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Protections under the U.S. Copyright Laws.
Gigi
Tanksley, MSGHN Executive Council
Copyright laws provide protection
under the laws of the U.S. to authors of original written works.
Both print and web publications are protected, as are all forms
of electronic medium and visual presentation. The Copyright laws
apply to both published and unpublished works and assign certain
rights to the owner of these works.
Owners may:
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Reproduce the
work in copies.
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Distribute
copies of the work to the public.
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Display the work
publicly.
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Post their work
to websites.
or they may
authorize others to publish on their behalf, those works without
relinquishing ownership
The U.S. Copyright
law provides that when a work is created, it automatically
protected by U.S. copyright law without the need to register the
work or display a copyright notice.
A copyright notice
is simply an identifier placed on copies of the work to inform
the world of copyright ownership. While use of a copyright
notice was once required as a condition of copyright protection,
it is now optional. Use of the notice is the responsibility of
the copyright owner and does not require advance permission
from, or registration with, the U.S. Copyright Office.
Copyright protection
attaches to a work when it is fixed in a copy for the first
time, whether or not the author uses the "©" symbol or the
copyright notice. However, the attachment of the generally
accepted copyright "©" symbol assures that visitors to our
websites understand that they cannot reproduce our work as if it
was their own.
MSGHN encourages
its' members to use the copyright "©" symbol on all member
sites, since this and a simple statement that the material is
protected, will strengthen the cause if a claim is to be filed
against someone using your information.
To obtain permission
to use somebody else's work, you need to ask. If you know who
the copyright owner is, you may contact the owner directly.
Remember, also, that
you may not be the sole owner of material published on your
website. When a visitor to the site offers information that they
would like to have published, they are not relinquishing their
own protection under the law. You may, with permission, publish
works submitted by others but you do not automatically become
the owner of this material.
Copyright, known as
intellectual property law, protects original works of
authorship; it does not protect facts or ideas, although it may
protect the way these things are expressed or displayed. The
records of the U.S. Census are facts and remain facts regardless
of where they are published. You can legally access census
information, even on a pay website, and reproduce it on your own
website. But, you cannot, within the laws, reproduce the format
in which it was displayed.
Original authorship,
documentation and images that you have developed, appearing on a
website may be protected by copyright laws. This includes your
writings, artwork, photographs, and other forms of authorship
protected by copyright. This work is under copyright protection
the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form.
A Copyright last for
a certain period of time. The laws explaining the specific of
the protected life of a work are complex and difficult to apply.
However, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright
protection will endure for the life of the author plus an
additional 70 years. In the case of a joint work (two or more
authors), the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving
author’s death. For anonymous and pseudonymous (works for which
the writer is unknown or published under a name other than the
legal name of the writer) works and works made for hire, the
term will be 95 years from the year of first publication or 120
years from the year of creation, whichever expires first.
For works created
but not published or registered before January 1, 1978, the term
endures for life of the author plus 70 years, but in no case
will expire earlier than December 31, 2002. If the work is
published before December 31, 2002, the term will not expire
before December 31, 2047.
For pre-1978 works
still in their original or renewal term of copyright, the total
term is extended to 95 years from the date that copyright was
originally secured.
Not Protected by
Copyright are several categories of material generally not
eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among
others:
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Works that have
not been written down or fixed in another tangible form of
expression such as improvisational speeches or remarks.
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Titles, names,
short phrases, and slogans.
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Ideas,
procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts,
principles, or discoveries.
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Works consisting
entirely of information that is common property and contains
no original authorship (for example: standard calendars,
height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and
lists or tables taken from public documents or other common
sources including census records.)
It is the policy of
the Mississippi Genealogy and History Network to respect the law
of the land including the copyright laws. Please assure that no
work is published in violation of these laws and report to the
Executive Committee suspected violations that are submitted to
you for publication.
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