may not be able to see without an Ancestry account). I wondered how My Ancestors and Me happened to appear at Ancestry since I don't have a tree there. I clicked the link to go to the Ancestry page and was surprised by what I found. There I saw photographs of Dixon Bartley's home and Dixon's will (that I had photographed from microfilm at a Family History Center) which had been copied from my blog. There was also an image of a newspaper clipping that I had scanned and posted (but which the owner of this tree could and may have requested, scanned, and uploaded herself).
In addition to the images, there were several posts from My Ancestors and Me which had been copied word for word and pasted into the stories area of this individual's tree. Granted, there were links to the individual posts somewhere on the pages but there was no other mention of how the images and words had been obtained, who had written them, or that permission to copy and paste them had been obtained.The owner of this tree has never contacted me. She has never left a comment on any of the posts she copied, nor has she emailed me directly.
This feels like a violation of copyright to me. I sent a message to her through the Ancestry contact information telling her that, asking that she remove my content, and requesting that she contact me. She has not yet responded.
When I was looking at her pages again this evening I noticed a link to Ancestry.com's Terms and Conditions. (Click through if you want to read the whole section about user provided content.) There were several parts that stood out to me.
Ancestry states that they host and provide access but are not responsible for the accuracy of the user provided content. The company doesn't monitor or preview user provided content but may use automated filtering tools (which seem to focus particularly on obscene content) and reserves the right to remove content. The company states it is sensitive to copyright and intellectual property rights of others.
Directly from the terms and conditions:
The decision to upload or share User Provided Content on the Websites is your responsibility and you should only submit or share User Provided Content that belongs to you (or where you have obtained all necessary permissions or consents) and that will not violate the rights of others. Be aware that copyright and other intellectual property rights will normally belong to the creator of the material in question and you should not reproduce or submit anything without permission of the owner. By submitting User Provided Content to any of the Websites, you represent and warrant that you have the right to do so or that you have obtained any necessary third party consents....Additionally, the terms and conditions state,
By submitting User Provided Content on any of the Websites, you grant Ancestry and its Group Companies a perpetual, transferable, sublicenseable, worldwide, royalty-free, license to host, store, copy, publish, distribute, provide access to create derivative works of, and otherwise use User Provided Content submitted by you to the Websites, to the extent and in the form or context we deem appropriate on or through any media or medium and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed or discovered.Does this mean that because someone else copied and posted my work to Ancestry, it now belongs to Ancestry?
I'm interested in interacting and cooperating with other descendants of my ancestors who are researching the same individuals and families. And I'm obviously interested in sharing my research or I wouldn't have a blog. But seeing what I've written copied word for word and posted elsewhere on the internet without my knowledge or permission feels like a violation. It's causing me to reconsider blogging about my ancestors.
Is this a copyright violation or am I just being too sensitive? Is this how the genealogy community does things and I'm just unaware of how it works? Is this something that generally happens and writers/photographers ignore it? Or is it a violation of my copyright?
If you've had a similar experience please share and tell me what you did, if anything, and what the outcome was. Thank you.
--Nancy.
Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
It is shocking to see your stuff on Ancestry. I have seen many photos and stories from my blog on people's trees. I have done nothing about it because the main person doing it has given me some information too. He typically mentions my blog, so I feel like I'm getting some credit. It would be too awkward for me to ask him to take it down when we have something of a research-relationship. More surprising are the people who then just add the photo or story to their tree. I usually check them out to see how we are related. I doubt that most users give a thought to copyright. We blog because we want to share a story and we want to connect with others who can further our research, so we have to be open to the risk that someone will take our work, maybe not maliciously but because they don't know better. All you can do is what you've done - contact them and state what you want: take it down or give credit so others can find you. The only other option is to make it so your work can't be downloaded or copied - there's some technology for that but I don't know what it is. (But that wouldn't stop someone from using the Snipping tool to create an image.)
ReplyDeleteLike you, Wendy, I don't want to create ill feelings with another researcher but in this case, I've never been contacted by this researcher so there really isn't any relationship to maintain on good terms. At Ancestry where she's copied and pasted my posts, the url is listed but not my name or any other indication that recognizes the words as mine.
DeleteMy daughter also suggested the possibility that others don't know about copyright. I suppose that could be so. I don't usually look at Ancestry trees but I suppose more of my posts/images could be found there. I don't know if I want to look or not.
I haven't yet decided how far I'll pursue this or whether I'll let it go.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the matter, Wendy.
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I am sorry you have had this experience, but I hope it will not deter you from continuing to blog about your ancestors. I can understand your frustration and do not believe you are in any way being too sensitive. As you have said, it feels like a violation. In my opinion, what appears on your blog is under your governance and only you should decide how it is to be used.
The same thing happened to me with respect to images (which bear my watermark) and written research (which is under my copyright) taken from my blog and posted on Ancestry. Just like you, in my case the research was posted by a person who presented it as their own, along with the photographs, but gave not so much a hint as to origin of both.
On three separate occasions I sent him a message via Ancestry explaining my expectations as far as my blog content is concerned and asking him to remove it. Eventually I received an email from him that was so vicious in nature I felt prompted to take action.
Ancestry does make you jump through some hoops, as far as proving your copyright, but I believe it was worth it. I followed their instructions to the letter as far as submitting a copyright claim, and informed them that the individual in question did not have, nor would ever have, permission to use my work. As a result, the images and text were removed soon after.
Personally, I no longer buy the luddite’s defence. Ancestry has enough warnings on its sites to make it clear to users that they should be posting only their own work. Also, I have not connected with a single cousin via Ancestry, although I now count over a dozen ‘cousin connections’ via my blog, and these cousins respect the time and the effort it takes to do family history research.
If you would like a copy of the email I sent to the legal department of Ancestry in order to exercise my copyright, I’d be happy to send one to you. Also, there is an HTML code that you can add to your blog to prevent those who simply copy & paste from doing so. The Blogger comment form prevents me from posting it here, but I'd be happy to send it to you in an email.
Wishing you all the best for a satisfactory outcome.
Jennifer
Jennifer, thank you for taking the time to respond to this post with such thorough detail.
DeleteYour experience with copyright infringement sounds ugly and frustrating. It amazes me that someone would steal your content then become angry with you. Good for Ancestry to follow through and remove your images and words from his tree. (There is hope!)
I guess our circumstances (yours and mine) with regard to "stolen content" appearing on Ancestry are just a little different because the person who copied and pasted my posts at least left the url for the posts, but that's all. And like you, I've never been contacted by a fellow researcher because of Ancestry content.
For me one of the most disappointing and frustrating things is that several of the posts she copied were based on research over a period of time -- not just days but months and years. Not to mention that I compose posts slowly.
I don't know yet how far I proceed with this problem but I would like to read a copy of the email you sent to Ancestry. And I'd also like the html code to prevent copying and pasting. Thank you for offering, Jennifer.
Thank you again for sharing your experience and offering support. I appreciate it.
Nancy.
Hi Nancy, I sent an email last night which bears the HTML code and a copy of my letter to Ancestry. Wishing you the best in getting a satisfactory result.
DeleteIt is always discouraging to see one's work online elsewhere with no credit given. A lady with whom I had briefly corresponded took a draft of my then unpublished family history and used it online to infer that my husband's Williams family was descended from Roger Williams of RI. His family came from VA and there is no known connection. She made it look like it was her work and inserted material about Roger of RI. I contacted her, asked her to remove the Roger image and references and to credit me as the Williams author. She only removed the Roger Williams material. It later appeared on Ancestry and when I challenged it as my work and sent them a section of my final published work, I was told it was not similar enough to be mine even though there were entire paragraphs that were exactly the same. Unless you want to really make an issue of it or it is costing you income, it probably isn't worth the rise in blood pressure and effort you'll have to put in. Contacting the person as you've done is the right path. You might even tell them that you will publish a link on your blog to their tree with a description of your work that he/she has taken without permission or credit. Knowing that it will appear online might be enough to encourage them to take down what isn't theirs.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I thought Jennifer's experience (in the previous comment) sounded awful, but I think yours may be even worse because the resolution was not in your favor.
DeleteAs I wrote above, the frustrating thing is to spend so much time researching and writing only to have it copied with the click of a mouse and posted elsewhere without attribution.
I will send another message to the person who copied my posts to her tree and see what happens. If she doesn't respond, I may take it further. I'm just not sure yet.
Thanks for sharing your experience and opinions, Linda. I appreciate it.
Nancy.
I'm sorry this happened to you Nancy. I also hope this experience doesn't discourage you from blogging about your ancestors.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your words of encouragement, Jana. I would not like to give up blogging about my family history research, but we'll see.
DeleteNancy,
ReplyDeleteI want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/06/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-june-19-2015.html
Have a great weekend!
Thank you for this surprise, Jana. I appreciate it. Thank you, too, for compiling your Fab Finds every week.
DeleteIt may take some effort, but Ancestry will remove the material if you pursue this. And when it's your own words you really should - you deserve the credit for your work. They get complaints about people using photos from FindaGrave.com (sadly, some people get REALLY upset about using simple headstone pictures from that site). Ancestry will send notices out to anyone who has posted the documents/pictures to their site that it is being removed due to copyright infringement.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your words of encouragement and the information that Ancestry will follow through with copyright problems. That's good to know.
DeleteI don't blame you for being upset! I would be, too.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to check out The Legal Genealogist's blog. She covers a whole lot about copyright.
Good Luck!
Hi, Anonymous. I follow The Legal Genealogist. I've read many posts helping bloggers understand what copyright infringement is, but I don't believe I've read a post suggesting what to do when our own work has been "stolen." I'll see if she has labels for her posts and see what I can find. Thanks for leaving a comment and that suggestion.
DeleteVery Interesting I know I have found photos I put there on others sites. I have a family website, but I always write to those, before taking the pictures and posting there. I also give credit if it comes from somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteI have done the same thing if using a picture of a headstone from FAG. I know there are some that say go ahead and used photo, but I still notify the person, that I have done so, give them credit and send them the link where their photo appears.
I just finished sending a email to a FAG member to see if I can use their 5 photos, waiting on response, but will not put on my site until permission is given
Hi, Sue. It's good you get permission to post photos before actually posting them. If only the person who copied and pasted my photos and posts on Ancestry would have been so kind!
DeleteNancy, I took my tree down about six months ago, and since you don't have a posted tree at Ancestry, where did this persons get your information and photos? In other words, where is your information posted? I hate that this happened to you, but I know the feeling because I've had all sorts of people "stealing" my photos and passing them off as their own. Currently, I'm pissed about a business who used 3 of my pictures on their company web page. You know I post lots of photos, so I'm always trying to come up with a solution on how to deal with this issue. Hoping for the best for you.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to let you know that I've included your post in my NoteWorthy Reads this week: http://jahcmft.blogspot.com/2015/07/noteworthy-reads-20.html
ReplyDelete