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I just wanted to clarify for those who do not know:
- Creating and maintaining a family tree on Ancestry is FREE. No paid membership is required.
- A paid membership is required to view the bulk of the record collections that Ancestry provides. If you are a paid member for a short time and attached a record to someone in your tree, you are still able to view that record and related digital image when you no longer have a paid membership. Other records such as the 1940 U.S. census do no require a paid membership at all to view and attach to someone in your tree. Amost every holiday, Ancestry will open up one or more record collection for free viewing for at least 3 or 4 days.
-A paid membership is also required to view family trees created by other members unless the owner has issued you a invitation through Ancestry and it has been accepted. Once accepted, that tree is also free for you to view without a paid membership.
- Ancestry solicits volunteers to transcribe for the World Archives Project. As I understand it, the result is searchable record indexes which are free for anyone to view without a paid subscription.
When I was looking for a permanent place to set up my family tree, I settled on Ancestry because it was a for profit company which seemed to be successful. It seemed the most likely company to be around for the next few generations. If I was a looking for a permanent place today, I would opt for setting up a tree on FamilySearch. The latter option wasn't available when I was looking.
Actually I am in the process of duplicating my Ancestry tree on FamilySearch.
As I've experienced it, that is not so. The search function on this page takes you to the same records anyone searches. There is teaser information, but one has to join or be at a participating library to see records.
As I've experienced it, that is not so. The search function on this page takes you to the same records anyone searches. There is teaser information, but one has to join or be at a participating library to see records.
This is also my experience. I tried once to view the 1940 census. I was not allowed because I am not a member and do not have a subscription. Moreover - and this I'll never understand - I put all my family papers in our local library where they were bound into book form and shelved. As is their habit, Ancestry copied these for their files. Where they show (online) what papers they hold, my books are offered for sale. It has been a while since I was there but it said something like "For purchase, contact......". I have never given permission for my books to be sold. Nor to be copied for that matter but I suppose that is unavoidable. When I contacted Ancestry about this, they replied that they were not really selling them.
I have long since given up family research. So, I do not know how Ancestry does today. I do know that I had to pay when I did join Ancestry years back. I have friends who are subscribed today and they do complain about what even they can't get into. Someone mentioned that they have kept Roots Web free. My friend says the forum part is still free but the rest has been cut back so as to be almost unusable.
Something is wrong here. I am glad I am out of this hobby.
As I've experienced it, that is not so. The search function on this page takes you to the same records anyone searches. There is teaser information, but one has to join or be at a participating library to see records.
You have to join, yes, but you can join for free. You don't have to subscribe to ACOM to create an account there. Once you have an account, even a free one, there are certain collections, particularly those transcribed by volunteers, which you can access for no cost. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way to exclusive search the free collections, which is a point against them... but if you think you have to pay to join ACOM, you are wrong, and if you think there are no collections at ACOM which are fully accessible by said free accounts, you are wrong again.
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I have friends who are subscribed today and they do complain about what even they can't get into.
If your friends have not paid for the world membership then yes, there will be international collections not available to them. This is made clear when they subscribe so it's their own fault if they do not understand what they have bought. With a world membership, there is nothing on ACOM which is not accessible.
This is also my experience. I tried once to view the 1940 census. I was not allowed because I am not a member and do not have a subscription. Moreover - and this I'll never understand - I put all my family papers in our local library where they were bound into book form and shelved. As is their habit, Ancestry copied these for their files. Where they show (online) what papers they hold, my books are offered for sale. It has been a while since I was there but it said something like "For purchase, contact......". I have never given permission for my books to be sold. Nor to be copied for that matter but I suppose that is unavoidable. When I contacted Ancestry about this, they replied that they were not really selling them.
I have long since given up family research. So, I do not know how Ancestry does today. I do know that I had to pay when I did join Ancestry years back. I have friends who are subscribed today and they do complain about what even they can't get into. Someone mentioned that they have kept Roots Web free. My friend says the forum part is still free but the rest has been cut back so as to be almost unusable.
Something is wrong here. I am glad I am out of this hobby.
You have grounds for a copyright violation case if your bound material included original material that you wrote yourself. For example, you included family stories. Facts, such as names and dates, are not subject to copyright.
So if all you did was print out a family tree with names and dates and bind it, you have nothing to protect. If you personally wrote notes about people, you have something you can copyright. If you copied, verbatim, notes written by someone else, you have violated his copyright if you publish it (and committed plagiarism if you did not give him credit for what he wrote.)
Copyright is not something you have to apply for, by the way. You have it just by virtue of creating an original work. That includes photographs.
Your library, of all places, should be aware of copyright issues. If you feel your copyright was violated, let the library know. If you want it off the Ancestry.com site, let them know. They certainly cannot sell it without your permission, and if a person must be a subscriber it is being sold. If you still want it shared, the minimum would be having your name credited as the author.
True. However, joining Ancestry costs nothing. Being a paid subscriber is optional.
Okay, we've come across a finer point - joining paid vs unpaid. Yes, one can be an unpaid member with an essentially useless search capacity, these memberships being designed to get people to join as paying members. As a former transcriber I've had a membership for years, which I used to transcribe for them in the past, though I had the membership before that.
Anyway, the point remains that unpaid members can't get much use from the site, even if they contribute.
This is also my experience. I tried once to view the 1940 census. I was not allowed because I am not a member and do not have a subscription. Moreover - and this I'll never understand - I put all my family papers in our local library where they were bound into book form and shelved. As is their habit, Ancestry copied these for their files. Where they show (online) what papers they hold, my books are offered for sale. It has been a while since I was there but it said something like "For purchase, contact......". I have never given permission for my books to be sold. Nor to be copied for that matter but I suppose that is unavoidable. When I contacted Ancestry about this, they replied that they were not really selling them.
I have long since given up family research. So, I do not know how Ancestry does today. I do know that I had to pay when I did join Ancestry years back. I have friends who are subscribed today and they do complain about what even they can't get into. Someone mentioned that they have kept Roots Web free. My friend says the forum part is still free but the rest has been cut back so as to be almost unusable.
Something is wrong here. I am glad I am out of this hobby.
Thank you for confirming the experience and giving us new information.
The fact that ancestry.com made Roots Web almost unusable does not bode well, nor is it very surprising. As for your book, if you're up to the challenge, you could probably get them to stop if you send them a "cease and desist letter." You don't have to hire a lawyer to do so. But it might at least put them on notice. Anyone has an automatic copyright when they create something. There is no excuse for ancestry.com to use your material without your permission. That's just plain greedy.
But don't give up on the hobby, if you don't want to. Ancestry.com does not equal genealogy. I did research at libraries and LDS (Mormon) search centers long before the internet was a factor. You don't even need ancestry.com to search online, if that's your preference.
Here are just a couple of free sites, there are many more:
1. familysearch.org - probably the best free site - quite extensive, including the 1940 US Census you wanted to view. You can do so at familysearch.org
2. usgenweb.org - also free, search by county, done by volunteers so it is uneven as to amount, quality, functionality of each county, but some are quite good
As I said above, the content of a genealogy book determines whether you can claim a copyright. If it is just facts, say descendancies, you cannot copyright it. It must contain your own original material. If it includes original material that someone else wrote, he owns the copyright, not you, unless he specifically transfers the right to you. If you use something written by another person and do not give him credit for it, then that is also plagiarism.
For those of us who are collecting data only for our own use, copy and paste makes it easy.
But if you decide to share, even with other family members, you need to write notes on individuals in your own words.
I am amazed at the generosity of amateur genealogists. I am saddened at the people who grab the research of others and do not acknowledge where it came from.
As I said above, the content of a genealogy book determines whether you can claim a copyright. If it is just facts, say descendancies, you cannot copyright it. It must contain your own original material. If it includes original material that someone else wrote, he owns the copyright, not you, unless he specifically transfers the right to you. If you use something written by another person and do not give him credit for it, then that is also plagiarism.
For those of us who are collecting data only for our own use, copy and paste makes it easy.
But if you decide to share, even with other family members, you need to write notes on individuals in your own words.
I am amazed at the generosity of amateur genealogists. I am saddened at the people who grab the research of others and do not acknowledge where it came from.
And actually claim it as their own. If they found it in a book and copied it, they seem to believe that is genuine, original research. Many do not know the rules. Some do not even care. That's life.
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