Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Tennessee

"Fair Use"

Greetings,

The "fair use" doctrine is part of the copyrightlaw. It allows people to use copyrighted materialfor personal reasons such as a family album ora diary. It's only an infringement on copyrightwhen when the user either profits or makes somany copies for free distribution that the copyrightholder loses revenue. Go ahead and use the mapsyou want, and don't worry because it's not a violationof the letter or the spirit of the law.

Respectfully,

Scott F. Pearce

Seems "fair" to me.

I don't have an exact cite, and you ought to check withan attorney better trained in this field, but there's a "doctrine"of copyright law called the fair use doctrine which allows youto make copies of things for your own private use. Just don't everpublish what you collate and perhaps even you should add an acknowledmentof the source and a note reminding whoever's reading this in 100 years thatyou didn't get permission from those sources for publication.

Sounds neat. How far back does your family tree go? -- Not well put. (Mine goes back to the Stone Age andfurther!) I mean, how far back can you track your ancestry? Were there any famous or rich people in your line?

Maps and copyright

"Fair use" is a concept that is often overused in copyright matters. In my opinion, first,consideration of the use of the maps for the books depends on the age of the maps and whether they have fallen into the public domain. Maps in the public domain are usable since their copyright has "run out.". Second, for the maps not in the public domain and covered under existing copyrights, you need to look at the test for fair use as laid out in 17 USC 107 (1)-(4), i.e., (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit education purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

These factors are considered in totality to the work taken.

A third consideration is that while your project now may be non-profit and family related, you might find that it may saleable and you would then want the proper releases in place.

My suggestion to find an intellectual property attorney in your area, pay for an hour or two or his or her time, bring in your materials, and make sure you can do what you plan to do. It's worth the peace of mind.

Good luck with your project.