Friday, July 31, 2009

How can I find the current copyright owner of rare genealogical books, especially if the author is deceased?

My wife and I love family history and genealogy. We often run across hard-to-find genealogical records published in older rare books, sometimes self-published. We would love to find the copyright owners of these books and see if they would open it up to the public domain or a permissive license. How do we find current copyright owners, especially since most of the original authors are deceased? If we find the legal owner, what release form should they sign to allow the genealogical content or index to be made freely available on the Internet?

How can I find the current copyright owner of rare genealogical books, especially if the author is deceased?
I have had this problem myself. The only thing to do is use the


information to compile a new text. Make sure to add your own


information and credit the source of the bulk of your material.





Most of these family tree books are put out by the authors


without thought to profit. They just want to get the information


out there and maybe recoup some of their costs.


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