I have been tracing my family tree for a while.All the info is available to me on the internet for me to trace if i want to. but one lady says ive copied it from hers, but it was someone else who must of copied it and they gave me the permission to use it. I cant remember who it was. Short of changing my email what can i do to stop her threats. i have removed my tree from all sites. please help it was an honest mistake.
2006-12-02 07:57:49 · 20 answers · asked by *♥* donna *♥* 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
I know that we are related thank god that it is only distant. because im the only one she can contact its me shes picking on. its making me feel quite sick. tracing my tree used to be fun but shes taken all that away. I thought i was strong enough not to let narrow minded people like her get to me.
2006-12-02 08:09:33 · update #1
How do i put her email as spam so it gets deleted. thats a good idea.
2006-12-02 08:13:50 · update #2
your all coming up with some great points so forgive me if i cant pick the best when the time comes.
2006-12-02 08:16:28 · update #3
wow i really cant choose a best one from this lot. shame i cant give you all the points.
2006-12-02 09:05:39 · update #4
Write the following email to her. She is full of it, and has no right to treat you this way. Good luck!
Dear [Name],
I have received and archived the emails you have sent me. Thank you for taking the time to inform me of the copyright you claim to have over this family tree.
A family tree is made up of data in the public domain. You cannot copyright information of this kind. However, as a courtesy to you I have removed the material you have objected to from my web site. I now consider the matter closed.
If you believe you have a legal claim against me for copyright infringement I invite you to take the matter to court. But be aware that I will vigorously defend any such action.
Please be aware that I consider your barrage of unsolicited emails to be a form of harassment. You have communicated your message, and at this time no further communication is necessary. If you continue with this illegal harassment I will take legal action against you and report you to your ISP for violation of their TOS.
Regards,
{Your Name}
2006-12-02 08:55:35 · answer #1 · answered by ZCT 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I've been doing genealogy for a long time and there are some really good articles out there. Here is a quote from the one that I have referenced below in the sources:
"No one can claim originality in a fact. At best, a person may discover a fact. If he discovers it and documents it, he has not created it. He has only reported it. There is no originality.
Census takers, for instance, don’t create the data that result from their work. They write down the facts that they discover. Census data, therefore, can’t be copyrighted because it’s not original.
Since facts can’t be original expression, the copyright of any work doesn’t extend to the facts contained within it. This is a very important fundamental concept in genealogy, since genealogy so very much involves the pursuit, discovery, and collection of facts.
While copyright doesn’t extend to facts, the facts may be expressed in an original fashion. When this occurs, the original expression used to convey the facts is protected, but the underlying facts are not."
So, if all you have copied is names and dates, she has no standing because those are facts and are public domain. If you need more info, do an internet search as "genealogy copyright" and you will find a wealth of info.
2006-12-02 08:10:20 · answer #2 · answered by denim 3 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I can't see how someone can copyright a family tree, especially as it's your family tree too! I'm a computer tech and the only way, I can see that you might of infringed her copyright would be if you copied any graphics / logos she's made.You've apologied and taken the material down for goodness sake, I can't see what else you can do, she's a crackpot.
How bad are the emails she's sending you? If they are really bad (e.g. swearing / abusive), I would be tempted to keep some as evidence of her unreasonable behaviour. Like some of the others here have stated, you can report her for abusive emails.
2006-12-02 08:57:52 · answer #3 · answered by quartzstar 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As you have explained the mistake the alleged owner of the material should be happy with that.
If they insist on harassing you then tell them you will only communicate through a solicitor and if they wish you enforce a copyright they will need to provide proof they are the copyright holder at the time the information was allegedly copied. If they are uncooperative, let them know any further e-mails will be treated as harrassment under the Computer Misuse act.
Failing that, you could tab her e-mail address as spam so all future e-mails are automatically blocked.
Chances are this may be someone attempting to extort money out of you.
2006-12-02 08:07:43 · answer #4 · answered by The Wandering Blade 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You cannot be in infringement of copyright unless you have passed off the original script as your own. Tell her to shove her threats. It is on the internet for anyone to access, and you can prove it. It is an offence to send threats, and you can take it further if she carries on.
You are not in trouble, and there was no reason for you to remove your tree! You can block her e-mails. Don't delete the other threats, just put them in a seperate file for evidence if needed.
Good luck, and I am truly sorry you have landed such a relation, I hope you find a few nicer ones!
2006-12-02 21:47:56 · answer #5 · answered by Thia 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are a couple of issues here. The first deals with copyright. You can only copyright original material. A list of family names and dates is not original material.
The second is, that after a certain amount of time (usually 100 years) any published material enters the public domain. Lists of ancestors, birth certificates, death certificates, certificates of marriage, baptism etc. are public documents and, after 100 years, are public domain unless someone has copyrighted them.
So the bottom line is, unless she has copyrighted material in the public domain, she doesn't have a valid copyright. If she does have a valid copyright, it has to be registered somewhere, and you are within your rights asking for proof that she has copyright.
It appears that she won't be able to provide that.
And that means you can hit her for harassment, if you wish. Or certainly get a cease and desist order to prevent her from future hassles.
2006-12-02 09:07:00 · answer #6 · answered by old lady 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Look, if anyone ever threatens you with legal action on the internet, email them back and basically tell them to **** off. She's a nutball, the internet is full of nutballs who are harmless but come out with stuff like that. Shrug it off, laugh at her and move on, and put your family tree thing back up on your site if you want to. After all, the information could have been found by anyone through looking in old records etc.
2006-12-02 09:50:37 · answer #7 · answered by dtlyuol 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not quite sure exactly you have copied but it is impossible to copyright the facts regarding a family tree. Copyright only applies to intellectual property (novels, poems, advertising slogans etc.) a fact is a fact and is outside of the copyright law. That you have used published information to further your own research is quite in order, you have broken no laws. To stop her threats your basic action should be to tell her to stop harassing you or take her complaint to court and make a total fool of herself. Do not stand for this sort of rubbish it is merely an attempted scam.
2006-12-02 08:16:41 · answer #8 · answered by U.K.Export 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Aww Bless You... she has you scared. Geneology is a shared forum. Full stop. You have the right to use anyones if you want, but why would you want to, unless it is your family and you have the right to it just as much as she does. If she doesn't want people seeing it, she should take it off!
Do not let her threaten or be unkind, either ignore her emails or be firm by telling her it is none of her business where you got your information.
You do not need to remove your tree from sites, this just allows her to be exclusive in helping other find their ancestors and we need all the help we can get!
2006-12-02 08:17:30 · answer #9 · answered by twinkletoes 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
For one thing how do you copywrite a family tree? She needs to stop harrasing you I am related to several people in goverment history (a former president involved in the signing of the declaration of independance)so should I harrase everyone else who may also be related to me?she is crazy.
Since you are related tell her to bug off.
2006-12-02 08:11:19 · answer #10 · answered by preciousbabe1 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋