4

I have accounts on many Genealogy Related Sites (FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindMyPast, etc.) and other people are uploading stories and photos to our common ancestors.

Is it okay for me to take photos from Family Search and put them on Ancestry, and Vice versa? Are there some other rules associated with posting it?

Improve this question
4
  • It would depend on the sites terms and conditions, unless they state otherwise that content uploaded to the site becomes their property (which most sites say the opposite to avoid legal issues) then it is within the public domain and should be fine. Always check the sites terms if you aren't sure.
    – Danny B
    Jan 25, 2016 at 15:30
  • 2
    @Danny I don't know of any genealogy site that says user-submitted content is in the public domain. Also, FamilySearch's images still belong to FamilySearch whether or not a user uploads them to Ancestry.com.
    – Harry V. ♦
    Jan 25, 2016 at 16:50
  • Weren't there major complaints about people reposting images from FindAGrave onto Ancestry, for instance?
    – AdrianB38
    Jan 25, 2016 at 19:47
  • One very useful site for these questions is The Legal Genealogist's Blog from Judy G Russell. Quite often she will deal with copyright type questions and the topic of "public domain" came up recently - see legalgenealogist.com/blog/2015/12/21/where-is-the-public-domain
    – AdrianB38
    Jan 25, 2016 at 20:36

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5

You can only repost something if it's out of copyright or it is in copyright but the copyright owner has licensed it to be reposted in the way that you want to do it.

Do not assume that the stuff is there legally in the first place.

Yes, it's a minefield.

Even my summary is probably suspect.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.