Copyright and Permissions Training Manual

Contents

• U.S. Versus International
• Public Domain
• Copyright Protected
• Denied List

U.S. Versus International

A book or serial issue’s publication location is necessary for determining the item’s copyright status. Books or serials published in the following places are treated as U.S. publications:

• Any of the 50 states in the United States
• Any U.S. territory, including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands

Books or serials published anywhere besides U.S. states and territories are treated as international publications.

Public Domain

A book or serial issue’s publication date and location are important determining factors for identifying if the item is in the public domain

• Books and serial issues published in the United States prior to 1 January 1930 are in the public domain
• Books and serial issues published in the United States after 1 January 1930 and before 1 January 1978 are in the public domain if their copyright was not renewed or never registered (see Copyright Protected section)
• Books and serial issues published in the United States from 1 January 1978 to 28 February 1989 are in the public domain if their copyright was never registered
• Books published internationally are treated as public domain if they were published 95 or more years ago.
  

Copyright Protected

A book or serial issue’s publication date and location are important determining factors for identifying if a book or issue is copyright protected

• Books and serial issues published in the United States between 1 January 1930 and 31 December 1977 are copyright protected if their copyright was registered and renewed
• Books and serial issues published in the United States between 1 January 1978 and 28 February 1989 are copyright protected if their copyright was registered, though this doesn’t necessarily mean copyright notice must appear in the work
• Books and serials published in the United States after 1 March 1989 are automatically copyright protected, whether or not the copyright was registered
• Books and serials published outside the U.S. more recently than 95 years ago must be considered copyright protected
• Copyright protected books from the Family History Library and Family History Centers may be scanned under certain conditions
• Partner libraries may not scan copyright protected books
  

Permission Codes

Permission Code Chart

The Koha bibliographic catalog record may list Permissions information if FamilySearch has a contract for that title

This chart describes the permission codes found in Koha:

Permission Granted (J1 K1)

• Book/serials that have a J1 K1 permissions code may be scanned as if they were public domain or permission granted regardless of the publication date and place

Permission Granted by Contract (J1 K3)

• Book/serials that have a J1 K3 permissions code may be scanned with a permission granted status regardless of the publication date and place

Limited Permission Granted by Contract (J1 K3a)

• Book/serials that have a J1 K3a permissions code may be scanned with a limited permission status regardless of the publication date and place

Copyright Protected via Contract (J1 K2j)

• J1 K2j books from the FamilySearch Library and FamilySearch Centers may be scanned but must be marked as copyright protected and the FSL or FSC must put a copy of that book into storage
• Copyright protected and J1 K2j books may only be digitized if FamilySearch physically owns a copy of the book

Denied (J9)

Some copyright holders, including many major genealogical publishers, have signed a contract that doesn’t allow FamilySearch to digitally publish their material. FamilySearch and its partners should not scan any book published by any of the following:

Yearbook Policy

School yearbooks have an additional privacy policy. Note this policy is not for permission or copyright reasons. It is necessary for privacy and protection of minors, and by following this policy we may prevent even greater restrictions.

Copyright still applies and we cannot digitize yearbooks that are in copyright without appropriate permission. However, even if we have copyright permission to digitize yearbooks within the years outlined below, per policy we cannot digitize them.

FamilySearch cannot digitize yearbooks within the following years:

• High school (typically grades 9-12 or 10-12): yearbooks published within the most recent four school years, meaning we will only digitize yearbooks published at least five or more years prior to the calendar current year
• Middle/junior high school (typically grades 6-8 or 7-9): yearbooks published within the most recent eight school years, meaning we will only digitize yearbooks published at least nine or more years prior to the current calendar year
• Elementary school (typically grades K-5 or K-6): yearbooks published within the most recent 14 school years, meaning we will only digitize yearbooks published at least 15 or more years prior to the current calendar year

Contents

• What You Have to Do
• Provide Permission Data
• Provide Publication Data
• If There is Limited or No Publication Data

What You Have to Do

When metadata requests are submitted, FamilySearch will do additional research to determine copyright status. The following information, as approved by Legal Coordination Services, is required.

You must provide FamilySearch with thorough permission, publication, and copyright information for every book or serial issue you wish to digitize.

Provide Permission Data

If you are digitizing an item that’s accompanied by a signed Permission to Duplicate form from the copyright holder, you must submit the permission form.

*Please send a digital copy of the permission form with the metadata request email.*

metadatarequests@familysearch.org

Download the Permission to Duplicate form here.

Submitting digital versions or digitized copies of permission forms is strongly preferred, but paper copies can be sent to Contract and Compliance Services.  However, if you’ve already sent a digital copy of the form you do not need to submit the paper.

Contract and Compliance c/o Duane Sorensen
15 E. South Temple St.
Salt Lake City, UT 84150

Check internal catalog (Koha) for permission/contract

If you found your book or serial in the FamilySearch’s internal catalog (Koha), the title may have a contract

Check the Contracts tab of the bibliographic record

• Look for J1 K2j, J1 K1, J1 K3 or J9 Permission Codes
  
  • Ignore all other codes

Put the applicable Permission Code on the metadata request template as you fill it out

• Not all records will have permission/contract information
  
  • If there is no contract/permission, you’ll need to assess the book or serial according to its publication details (see section 3).
• Not all records that have permission/contract information will have a valid code
  
  • If there is no contract/permission or if there is an invalid or incomplete Permission Code, you’ll need to assess the book or serial according to its publication details (see section 3)

Provide Publication Data

Publication and copyright data from the book, issue and/or the catalog record must be included on the metadata request form

Publisher and Publication Place

Look for your book’s publisher and publication location on the title page(s)

Publication Date

Look for your book or serial issue’s publication date

• If you can’t find a published, printed, or authored date on the title page, look for the date in a forward, afterward, table of contents, or elsewhere in the book.

Copyright Symbol or Statement

Look in your book or issue for any indication of copyright

• There may be a “Copyright”, “Copyr.” or “Copyright Reserved” notation
• There may be a copyright symbol (©) or a c before the date (such as “c1934”)
• Copyright statements should appear on the title page or on the pages that immediately surround the title page

If there is limited or no publication data

Since we handle many self-published or independently printed books, many books don’t include definite publication information. These books require additional research to determine the publication scenario that most likely applies

All likely publication location and time period information must be included on the metadata request form

Likely Publication Location

Determine if the book was probably made in the U.S.

• The book or serial issue is written in English and uses U.S. spellings and language structure
• Context and the content make it seem likely to have been created in the U.S.

Otherwise, determine if the item was likely made internationally

• The item is written in a non-English language
• The item is written in English, but spellings and language structure indicate it may have been created in Great Britain or another non-U.S. country
• Context and the content make it seem likely to have been created outside of the U.S.

Likely Publication Date

Determine the time period when the book was likely created.

Anything likely published in the U.S. in 1989 or later must be considered copyright protected

Anything likely published internationally within the last 95 years must be considered copyright protected

• Look for clues, such as a date stamp that shows when the library acquired the item, from which you can conclude the book was created before that date
• See how old the book appears
  
  • Yellowing pages and brittle covers may indicate an old book
  • Printing appears to have been created by old technology
    
    • Examples:
      
      • Mimeograph copies
      • Dot matrix printing
  • Font, style, or binding characteristics
    
    • Examples:
      
      • Items created in the 1950s and 1960s sometimes have a space age feel
      • Items created in the 1960s or 1970s sometime have a colorful hippie vibe or a patriotic, bicentennial-era look
      • Items created in the 1990s to current day may have a cleaner, laser-printed look with vibrant color images
• Check the content
  
  • Prefaces, forwards, and afterwards may include dates
  • If the content references specific dates, the book was likely created after to that date
    
    • Note that dates within the body of the book are only useful for defining a starting point for when the work was created and must be used in conjunction with other clues
      
      • Examples
        
        • If a book references the year 2002, you can assume the book was created after 2002
        • However, if the latest date a book mentions is 1958, the book may have been created in 1959 – or it could have been created in 1999

Download the Permission to Duplicate Form

Click here to download the Permission to Duplicate form.

Download the Copyright Flowchart

Click here to view or download the Copyright Flowchart.

Copyright and Permissions - Video Instruction