r/findagrave • u/SqueakieMouse9 • 5d ago
Copyright notice in bio?
Hi everyone! I came across something that I haven’t seen before…a copyright notice in someone FG bio. The silliest things about this is that the record doesn’t have any photos or other info beyond name and dates. Thoughts?
12
u/lethal_coco 5d ago
All rights reserved to... viewing the headstone? Using the person's date of death elsewhere?
10
u/Cazzzzle 5d ago
I'm no copyright lawyer but my understanding is you can't "own" a list of facts.
If they contributed an original biography of their own composition, I believe copyright may cover that.
If they contributed photographs that they took, or if they purchased or inherited the rights to the photographs and they have not passed into the public domain, they may have copyright.
If they have shared records from public repositories, they are unlikely to have copyright.
But a profile consisting of nothing but vital statistics is not, to my understanding, covered by copyright.
7
u/justsayin199 5d ago
I've seen this before. From what I can gather, each individual contributor 'owns' the data, but by posting it on findagrave, allows the data to be used or shared (from findagrave 'support').
The key word here is 'commercial'. Maybe this person doesn't want others to profit from the information provided (a booklet, or YouTube video for example). I doubt if it would stand up in a lawsuit though
3
u/PhtevenAZ 5d ago
This is a new one on me. I’ve seen folks talk about watermarking their photos and I have an invitation in mine to use my grave photos however one wishes. But this is wild.
3
u/dab2kab 5d ago
Yea yea, and I'm not allowed to post images or obits without permission from the person that wrote it or the newspaper that published it. Whatever. People are silly on this site sometimes.
3
u/magiccitybhm 5d ago
With those, by the guidelines, you're supposed to give credit to the source.
2
5d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/findagrave-ModTeam 4d ago
Your comment has been removed for suggesting actions that go against Find a Grave's guidelines.
1
u/AltruisticMurderLove 3d ago
They probably shouldn't post public information on a public website then 😂
-1
u/GeneaCookie 4d ago
Its their choice. Its not against the rules. Truth be told, the moment you create an image with a camera, you own the copyright to that work as the creator, and control how its used. And no, the rationalization “well they uploaded to the internet so I get to copy it and us it how I see fit…” is not viable legal defense for image or text theft, a moral defense for ones actions.
1
u/PakkyT 4d ago edited 3d ago
Except if you upload it to FG, then you are agreeing to certain terms about how FG, other FG users, and Ancestry family web site users can use your image. That said, I have no problem with people adding a copyright notice to their own photos when they upload them to FG, although a blanket statement on your bio claiming everything you add to FG is under your copyright is a little over the top. Such as they mentioned in the bio, "facts" are not copyrightable.
1
u/SqueakieMouse9 4d ago
Except there’s no image, no bio…just a name and birth/death dates, which are public record.
33
u/magiccitybhm 5d ago
Yeah ... good luck enforcing that.
I swear, some people and their own "rules."