3 ms·

Just because something can be found on the internet does not mean you can sell it without permission.

dmorgan81 2y ago
As the article says, Ancestry wasn’t selling this data and was linking back to where it had come from. Ancestry also says they will honor robots.txt with instructions not to scrape data.
- louthy 2y ago
  The OP wrote “make and use copies of data” — seems a reasonable response
- georgeecollins 2y ago
  You are right. I was just reacting to the idea that anything you find on webpage is yours to use without restriction. Think about pictures of my kids on social media! Thank you for clarifying.
CSMastermind 2y ago
Per the article they are not selling anything: > Access to web records is free. No one needs to subscribe or register with Ancestry to view these records. > Web records are attributed to the content publishers. > They're easily available. Prominent links make it easy to access the source website. > We follow web standards for restricting crawling (robots.txt files). If a website has a robots.txt file that prohibits crawling the genealogical records, we don't search those records. If records from your website are included and you'd like them removed, please send a request to websearch@an cestry .com.
prepend 2y ago
Actually, it does. Facts can’t be copyrighted. If I find facts on the public internet, it’s legal to sell and use in most jurisdictions around the world. If I don’t want the world to see material, I don’t give it away for free to everyone.
- Quarrel 2y ago
  I think this is the key point that lots of people need to understand. Your photo of a headstone? You own the copyright. Grandfather died on 9 June 1938 & is buried at X? Not copyrightable.
- georgeecollins 2y ago
  Yes that's true, but copyright is not the only restriction about the use of data you find online. There's trademark and privacy to consider. I don't think either thing is likely to apply to dead people :)
  - prepend 2y ago
    Trademark also doesn’t apply to facts. And if data is published on the open internet then privacy is most likely not an issue. The genealogy is already published in the open. So I don’t think those elements are relevant to the conversation without more context.
- timthorn 2y ago
  While an individual fact can't be copyrighted, a collection of facts does have database right protections in the EU & UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_right https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_right

As the article says, Ancestry wasn’t selling this data and was linking back to where it had come from. Ancestry also says they will honor robots.txt with instructions not to scrape data.

louthy 2y ago
The OP wrote “make and use copies of data” — seems a reasonable response
georgeecollins 2y ago
You are right. I was just reacting to the idea that anything you find on webpage is yours to use without restriction. Think about pictures of my kids on social media! Thank you for clarifying.

CSMastermind 2y ago

Per the article they are not selling anything: > Access to web records is free. No one needs to subscribe or register with Ancestry to view these records. > Web records are attributed to the content publishers. > They're easily available. Prominent links make it easy to access the source website. > We follow web standards for restricting crawling (robots.txt files). If a website has a robots.txt file that prohibits crawling the genealogical records, we don't search those records. If records from your website are included and you'd like them removed, please send a request to websearch@an cestry .com.

prepend 2y ago

Actually, it does. Facts can’t be copyrighted. If I find facts on the public internet, it’s legal to sell and use in most jurisdictions around the world. If I don’t want the world to see material, I don’t give it away for free to everyone.

Quarrel 2y ago
I think this is the key point that lots of people need to understand. Your photo of a headstone? You own the copyright. Grandfather died on 9 June 1938 & is buried at X? Not copyrightable.
georgeecollins 2y ago
Yes that's true, but copyright is not the only restriction about the use of data you find online. There's trademark and privacy to consider. I don't think either thing is likely to apply to dead people :)
- prepend 2y ago
  Trademark also doesn’t apply to facts. And if data is published on the open internet then privacy is most likely not an issue. The genealogy is already published in the open. So I don’t think those elements are relevant to the conversation without more context.
timthorn 2y ago
While an individual fact can't be copyrighted, a collection of facts does have database right protections in the EU & UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_right https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_right