I need legal advice on use of copyrighted materials?
Our Family History Center received a large donation of documents from a member of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society (GRHS) and which was supplemented with our stake purchasing the remaining Heritage Reviews portion of the collection to bring the collection up to date. The collection contains large quantities of names, places, and other data on births, deaths, marriages, christenings and ship manifests for Germans living and moving around in eastern Germany, western Russia, Poland, and Ukraine during the 18-20th centuries period. I contacted FamilySearch before (case No. 5897887) about keeping the collection here at the Stake's TFH Center because it is this north central states and Saskatchewan that has the largest numbers of descendants of these immigrants settling this region. The person I contacted suggested that the collection remain here in our TFH Center in Rapid City, SD.
A usage problem has developed, however. The GRHS office in Bismarck, ND has denied copyright release to our TFH Center which would allow photographing or copying portions of these documents. I have searched the U.S. Copyright office catalog and found no registration of copyright by GRHS even though the Heritage Reviews show the usual (c) All Rights Reserved notice.
Family Search only has a list of the Reviews with publication volume numbers and dates, but no actual textual information within each issue. My question is two-fold; (1) has the TFH Department of the Church attempted to obtain these GRHS documents with copyright release, and (2) can our TFH Center ignore the release refusal because of their lack of formal registration with the U.S. Copyright Office?
Answers
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If I were you, I would contact the Family History Department in Salt Lake City, Utah and ask the "Content Strategy Team" if they would be interested in filming any of these records. They will know better than the rest of us what the legalities of copying these records will be. You can also reach out to Fritz Jüngling in the Department for advice.
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My personal understanding on US copyright is that registration is not necessary. Copyright exists automatically with no need for registration. This may not have been the case originally. See https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html and specifically the following:
Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work.
I Am Not A Lawyer, etc. I'm just adding this because there's no indication that this might be so on this thread.
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