JEAN PRATHER wrote:
> Hi I got the Baby from the News and Courier obits.. so it is public ...


It should be noted that publication of copyrighted material does not make the
material public domain.  In order to freely copy and distribute material it
should either be in the public domain or you should have the copyright owners
permission.  Otherwise, you may be violating copyright laws.

Copyrighted materials published in a newspaper, magazine, newsletter, book,
etc., do not normally become public domain by the mere fact of such
publication.  Also, publication does not constitute permission by the copyright
holder to copy or re-distribute unless so stated in the publication.  

There circumstances when the author releases the material to the public domain
or grants limited permissions to copy.  An example would be messages posted in a
public email forum.  But, newspaper publications usually are not considered
public domain materials.

Obituaries are often written by a relative, or a friend of the deceased, or a
funeral home.  I've written a couple myself for family members.  They are
usually sent to the newspaper by the funeral home.  Therefore, I think that the
copyright holder is probably not the newspaper in which the obituary was
published.  It would probably be whoever the original author was of the
material.  

Publication of an obituary in the newspaper would probably not constitute
permission to copy or release into the public domain.  But, what are the chances
that the original obituary writer would take any action against a copyright
infringement?  Probably very small, unless the infringement was of significance
to the author or involved a substantial commercial value.  

If someone copied an obituary I had written and posted it into a genealogy email
forum I probably wouldn't take any action.  But, if they published it in a book
that sold a million copies, then I might want to speak with my lawyer.

IMHO,

Steve Coker
Forum Manager

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