Genealogists must take care not to become pirates

The Internet went a little wacky a couple of weeks ago, when Congress seemed on the road to considering the Stop Online Piracy Act proposed by Rep. Lamar S. Smith.

Those backing the bill said it was intended to protect intellectual property online. The other side felt the proposal threatened free speech and gave law enforcement too much power in shutting down domains. Wikipedia basically shut its sight down for a period of time in protest. Smith has backed up and is reconsidering his proposal.

But what does this have to do with genealogy? Few made the connection between the controversial bill and what they post on Ancestry and various other genealogical venues that promote sharing family history research.

Truly I doubt that Smith and others had family researchers in mind when they proposed SOPA, but it gives us cause to pause and consider the underlying "theft" issues at work here.

Many people violate American copyright law with their genealogical postings, but few think of themselves as pirates (hence the title "Piracy" in Smith's bill).

Most dictionaries' first definition of piracy is that of robbery or illegal violence at sea. Some of us indeed may have ancestors who were pirates on the high seas.

The second definition usually refers to unauthorized use of a copyrighted work — which could mean a written family story, a picture, a recorded lecture, etc. For some of you the light bulb just came on: Your descendants also could have an ancestor who pirated (genealogical) material — and that ancestor could be YOU.

When researching on Ancestry.com, have you ever noticed that several individuals have posted the same photograph? And do you ever wonder who has the original? You should!

When you discover a new cousin who graciously shares with you a picture of your mutual third great-grandfather, one of the first things you should do is to determine how she got the photograph. Don't be surprised at how many times you'll hear "I don't remember."

That should be a warning that the person with whom you are dealing does NOT have the original photograph and does have the right to be sharing it with you. You should NOT post that photograph to your Ancestry account or any websites you create, because the photo rights do not belong to you.

But suppose this new cousin tells you she does not own the original and that what she has is a copy she got from another cousin. You should then contact that other cousin to see if he has the original. Perhaps you'll be able to track the photograph to the owner of the original. Only that person can give you permission to post it to your website or publish it in a family history.

Of course, copyright applies not just to photographs but also to stories we have written and shared with other family members. I once found some of my written research submitted to Ancestry as a "member story." I contacted the person, explained how she was in violation of the copyright I held on the material and asked her to remove it. She did so promptly, explaining she had been ignorant of the law.

I appreciate that she responded, but none of us should be using the "ignorance excuse." When we visit various websites we should stop to read the fine print. For example, clearly posted on every page in which a photograph is submitted is Ancestry's announcement that "The content of this page should adhere to our community guidelines. Please report inappropriate content or possible copyright violations."

I wonder how many Ancestry users ever click on the hyperlinked "community guidelines?" One of the warnings on that guidelines page says "Don't post anything you didn't personally create. That includes copyrighted material you're not authorized to distribute, email messages, notes in GEDCOMs, etc. Read our copyright policy if you have questions."

A hyperlink makes it easy to check the company's copyright policy. The policy clearly explains that materials submitted to the site's public area remains the property of the submitter or original creator. The company then pledges to respond to any claims of copyright violations and gives the name and address of the person to whom claims should be directed.

Genealogy is fun and exciting and a big part of it is sharing stories, memories and photographs. But please do so responsibly. If we don't, the next legal proposal could be directed at us!