Are we not to attach the copy of the images to FS that are from the county offices with note?

E Vollmer

Permission.jpg

Curious if we should not make a copy of the christening records from England when there is a note stating 'No copies without permission?"

Thanks, Elaine

Graham Buckell

Generally speaking, FamilySearch is very careful to adhere to any agreements with record custodians regarding access. The fact that this set of images is freely available on the internet indicates that access has been granted. Making copies of such records for personal use is almost certainly acceptable. Copies for commercial use would be a different matter.

Paul W

This is an interesting issue. I have found images on Find My Past that cannot be downloaded. Obviously, there are ways around that, but FMP prevents saving a copy directly in some cases.

So, should FamilySearch be providing an easy method of copying / downloading in this example? I guess Devon County Council would be the body to confirm how strict its limit on copying is meant to be - maybe having the "image courtesy of" banner partly obscuring the image means they do find copying for personal use is acceptable.

As a matter of interest, before a volunteer at the Society of Genealogists' Library in London (temporarily closed) would hand me microfiche relating to parish records of Suffolk, I had to sign a paper declaring I would not take any copies from the fiche. This was almost certainly meant to allow Suffolk County Council to profit from direct sale of this material.

I wonder if the message (as illustrated) implies Devon County Council wants to do the same?