My entire Gallery!
All of my 2,586 posted items in my Gallery have been labeled 'RESTRICTED'. Over 6 years of work! I understand there is some computer generated system that reviews these, but what in the world!? I have read & reread Family Search rules, but I do not understand why clear, decent photos of my family (taken by other family members) are restricted.
What about US Draft Registrations? I cannot locate the rules on why those are restricted? Those are public record & not marked copyrighted.
Birth & death certificates that are NOT labeled copyrighted have always been accepted.
I have recently learned that Newspapers.com articles, obits, etc., are marked 'copyrighted' (in very teeny letters at the bottom), so those i understand.
This is bewildering & confusing to me! All of a sudden there is a restriction audit and I have been targeted!
thank you, Toria
Best Answers
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@Toria Moran Smith You might find more help by posting in the Memory Viewer Feedback group.
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"… I have read the rules/guidelines & cannot locate any words that indicate I am doing anything wrong. …"
Yes, that is unfortunately a typical problem - bodies like FamilySearch try to provide rules that cover everything but are still short enough to read. Not always possible. Even more difficult when FS cannot know what Terms & Conditions other sites impose on their customers, but still have to write rules to cover those Ts&Cs.
As for FS being considered to be just research and entertainment… Where it gets tricky is when we take stuff from one of the commercial providers and put it on FS. Especially when we put a lot onto FS (and bear in mind that there's a lot of us doing this…). Then that provider gets rather upset when perhaps a substantial percentage of its images are on FS for free, allowing people to go to FS rather than pay a subs to the company. It's because of this potential diversion of revenue away from the company that FS has to be fairly strict in what images it allows. It doesn't want to upset the commercial companies because there's more going on behind the scenes - to the benefit of everyone - than we might first imagine.
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Yikes! Let's see if we can help you!
This is the first time I have ever seen this happen, so I'm pretty sure this is a mistake.
I will ask others on my team to take a look at this and see what the problem might be. Give us a bit of time, but hopefully we can get this corrected quickly.
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Thank you! But, I have discovered what has occurred. Apparently i have many sources that are not allowed in FS. I had NO idea. I read the rules, but no where does it say we cannot bring in anything from Newspapers.com, Ancestry, Find a Grave, etc. I thought just documents with Copyright notations were unacceptable. (Newspapers.com does have this itsy bitsy Copyright notation at the very bottom of their page; i have never noticed). I've been working on FS for several years & the way I have been treated by the associates who 'monitor' our files have been hurtful & disrespectful to me. When I finally was told why I had so many 'restrictions', I immediately apologized & wanted to clean them out. The FS monitors were uncaring & cold. I have been banned from attaching any more memories to my huge family tree. I have no idea how long this ban will last, but it hurts me immensely to be treated this way. I'm a 67 year old honest gal who started this genealogy quest 6 years ago when I discovered my family lied to me about my life. I'm beyond surprised how people can be so cruel…both family & others. Thank you for your caring.
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so let us know what finally happened . . . and how it was resolved.
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hello. I have requested a phone call from Escalations. I will request concrete answers on exactly what can be added to my Gallery & from where. I get so many different answers/information from the powers who answer our questions via email & phone calls. I also want to inquire why using copyrighted records for private, non-commercial, research or entertainment is restricted. There is a Fair Use doctrine in copyright law that allows just those usages. I have subscriptions to Newspapers.com, Ancestry, etc., to search for my family records. Why continue those if I am not allowed to utilize them in my FS family tree? sidenote: After 6 years of tree building (8+ hrs/day), they have given me 30 days to remove all of my Gallery items. I don't think I'm going to make it. This is truly a nightmare for me.
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Thank you, Dennis. I will definitely post all results of this craziness. sigh.
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One problem is that the Fair Use principle is not well defined once you start asking concrete questions. Over 2 thousand items might be considered to break limits. I would also point out that putting your stuff on FamilySearch is not private - it's very much public.
Nevertheless, I hope you get some concrete answers.
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the one thing that really makes me wonder is that you say "ALL of your 2586 items were restricted"
(not just a portion that might have involved copy right issues)I would have thought that certainly some items you had uploaded would not have been an issue with copyrigth etc, and would not have been restricted.
keep us posted as to what they tell you.
I tend to think this was just a gross mistake . . . either human or systematic error.
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"… I thought just documents with Copyright notations were unacceptable … "
Also, bear in mind that (a) copyright applies automatically - the © sign doesn't need to appear and (b) anyone's ability to load up images is also dependent on the Terms & Conditions applicable to the originating website. One of the websites that I use allows me to publish up to 2 dozen (or whatever) of its images on a blog or similar - but no more. That's a Terms & Conditions thing, not a copyright thing.
So things can be complicated and checking 2 thousand individual images may not be humanly possible.
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Adrian. Your words to clarify, thank you, i.e., Copyright is automatic ~ good to know.
Also, I had every intention of Archiving most of my Gallery items, laughing.. that won't be happening now.
I realize that famSearch is public, but I thought its usage would be considered research & entertainment. There is zero commercialization or publishing or selling, etc., so, in my old mind, I thought all was dandy.
Other docs » WW1 / WW2 draft registrations, censuses, birth, marriage & death certs, etc. These are all public domain docs (many vital certs which I have purchased from counties). Some of my censuses are located from the Unified Census ED Finder. A public site which lists all released censuses by multiple criteria.
(there are a couple of states who have Copyright stamps on their vital statistic docs, which i do NOT bring in).
Overall, I am frustrated because I have read the rules/guidelines & cannot locate any words that indicate I am doing anything wrong.
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Dennis…
Yes, my entire Gallery was splashed with 'RESTRICTED' on every entry. gulp. And when I emailed them pleading for explanations, no response for days. Plus, their hyperlinked text did not work.
»I would have thought that certainly some items you had uploaded would not have been an issue with copyrigth etc «
Me too. They even restricted my family photos on my home screen. When I was little with my grandParents. That really shocked me. All my family photos!
»I tend to think this was just a gross mistake . . . either human or systematic error.«
I will think that too. but, i have an inbox full of their emails curtly telling me otherwise. Which is why I want Escalation to get involved. Not for anyone to be in trouble, just to know the unwritten rules. And, of course, hoping that all my years of dedication in finding my family records is not gone in a poof.
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The initial emails would have been system generated (not human) - even if it was a mistake
it is usually done as a first pass when intially submitted - by a computer interface
but in your case these were not just recently submitted - which is weird.You can you usually just reply back to the (one of the) emails and THEN you will get a human being to look into the issue
Have you got any human response yet- or just the "canned" identical systematic messages
until you get an official HUMAN response - I would still think this is an error. Have you replied back to any of these emails? and did anyone respond?
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Dennis.. Oh yes. I have responses from people. The mean tones were the key. I was accused of trying to pull something over on them & this person said I was suspended from the Gallery. I responded explaining what I was trying to do & they released the suspension, but it was 4 days later. I have replied to every email, trying to get an understanding & how to repair it. Crickets. Then, the meanness increased. They said to remove everything in 30 days. I asked for January 31 due to holidays, as I am a busy KiKi (grandmom) for the next 2 months. Two days later, it was granted. But, I will never get all these memories deleted in time. I'm quite scared as to what will happen then. sigh.
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