Copyright for family history

Your family history may belong to you but  the information that you find in books or on the Internet  is likely to be the copyright of someone.

Material on Websites like this one will all have the copyright on material and it can only be reproduced with approval of the owner of the copyright.

This is particularly important if you want to use photographs or documents that you have found on a personal website or publish in a book.

Recording the data on your ancestor that you find on websites is unlikely to cause you any problems although copying large chunks of data may well do so.

The rules on copyright are complex although the rule of thumb is that material is copyright  for 70 years after the death of the author.

There are information sites on the Internet like the copyright service providing details of copyright issues.

Copyright for family historians can be a grey area as there are many unanswered questions but the safest route is If in doubt explain what you want and ask permission.