CORNWALL FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY 5 Victoria Square, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 2RS  UK       Telephone  01872 264044   overseas +44 1872 264044
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Lookups & Copyright

This Copyright statement is necessarily detailed and complex in parts, but in essence it means that we have NO OBJECTIONS to fair use being made of our published or unpublished data in a form of lookup service, in fact we would welcome such lookup services as being of benefit to those who may not have the ability to make direct use of our indexes.

Cornwall FHS would like to have these statements passed to anyone receiving data from a lookup on one of our indexes or transcriptions. If the full statement is not practical then the shorter statement is acceptable. The full statement MUST be read and understood by anyone providing data via a lookup or similar service.

Cornwall FHS are not averse to lookups being performed from their indexes and transcriptions but we really need to clarify how we would allow this under existing copyright legislation. The rather extensive details below are to clear up the point about lookups for you and others so that we can co-exist happily in our pursuit of Family History. Please do not take them as a negative point of view, whereas before we have been against lookups in general, we are now keen to reverse that position.

The data used in our indexes is probably subject to more than one copyright although it may be argued that the source data is in the public domain, that is an avenue that we do not intend to pursue.  The data as transcribed, prepared and entered by Cornwall FHS is our copyright and there is no current intention to waive or remove that copyright, which will under law exist until at least 50 years after the death of the Author. The above period may change according to law.

The copyright law as applied by Cornwall Family History Society is in accordance with UK Law, and under law may have application in other countries. Cases that have arisen under the laws of other Countries would not be interpreted as setting a precedent under UK Law. The above notwithstanding, the following acts and statutes apply to Cornwall FHS data :-
 

• The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48)
• The Copyright (Application to Other Countries) Order 1999
• Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 3032
• The Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997

These allow for use of the data for personal purposes or as part of an academic work, providing the following is adhered to :-
 

• Only 'reasonable' amounts of data are copied or quoted, definition of 'reasonable' is difficult but on legal advice, we feel that any more than 5% of an individual publication would be considered to be 'more than reasonable'. However, the quality, as well as the quantity of the information should be considered. In essence the rule of thumb would be 'no more was taken than was necessary'.
• The original source or sources should be acknowledged.
• No payment may be accepted for any data or information provided.
• No damage to the provision of the data or information by the copyright holder, of the copied work, is caused by improper use of copied data.

To clarify the above as it applies to Cornwall FHS, we would consider taking action against anyone who copied in any form, electronic or other, and made our data available as their own or as a service to others in excess of a 'reasonable' amount. Anyone who transcribes from the original source and not from our indexes or transcriptions is of course not subject to Cornwall FHS copyright but may be subject to copyright from other organisation or individuals.

Exceptions to the any of the above may be allowed by Cornwall FHS on receipt of a written or electronic request. Cornwall FHS would consider taking action against anyone who obtained payment in any form of currency, barter or exchange for the provision of our data. Professional researchers may of course charge for their services in researching an individual's family tree but the data obtained from a Cornwall FHS data service should not be provided directly as part of the research but can be used by the researcher, as a demonstration of their expertise and experience in knowing the field, to point towards the original source.
The provision of the data by Cornwall FHS must not be damaged or compromised by the provision of data by a third party, i.e. a lookup service. Cornwall FHS will retain the right, until rescinded by Cornwall FHS, to publish their data for remuneration or for free and this right must not be damaged or infringed.

The above information may be disseminated to anyone who has a similar interest in our data providing that it is copied in full.
Thank you for you cooperation in making our data more readily available, if you have any questions please contact the Chairman 

Click for a copy of our full statement or short statement on copyright policy.