Genealogy Selfie Contest

2nd Great Grandmother Julia Grossman, 1923 and Andrea, 2014.

I found this on Olive Tree Genealogy and it sounded like fun. Enter Gould Genealogy's Genealogy Selfie Contest for a chance to win a  Conversion Pack (Video Converter and PhotoMaker X4 slide/negative scanner) from Kaiser Baas.

Do you have a selfie of yourself doing something genealogy related? Maybe with your family history group or sorting through family pictures? Grab your phone, take a selfie.

Post it on Gould Genealogy's Twitter Account, Facebook Page or Google + page.  Details are at Genealogy Selfie Contest.

Have fun.

Memes, Can I use them?

Memes, those great images of Grumpy Cat or Captain Kirk with a humorous phrase that spread virally over social media, what a great way to promote your writing....right?

I love those old style ones that scold people into proper comma usage that people create using someecards. It says on their site they are free. But if you read their terms of service it is clear that it is free for personal use only: "You CANNOT use the Services to create advertising, promote a product, brand, Web site, social media program, community page, or Facebook fan page without written permission."

So what about the ones with Captain Kirk or Ryan Gosling? With Captain Kirk you are infringing on trademarks. With anything else, remember that copyright at its core is easy as I talked about in an earlier post, Hippy days of the internet are over. Either you took a picture and then it belongs to you or you didn’t take the picture and then you need to ask permission to use it.

With Ryan Gosling, or even your cousin, as Andy Goldstein states in his article, Technology: Internet memes pose legal questions, the meme could violate an individual's right of privacy when used for commercial purposes.

So what can you do? You could create your own memes using images that are out of copyright or that you own the copyright for? However, they may not capture the Zeitgeist aspect that is so essential to a meme going viral.

Deborah Sweeney in her article, The Copyright Conundrum of Memes in Social Advertising, argues that homemade memes often feel forced and cheapen your brand. I am not sure I agree. Do you?

But I am not a business, you say, I am just a writer. Or, we are a non-profit organization, you say, so not a commerical enterprise. Right? Ask yourself this question, are you using social media to promote your work or your organization? If the answer is yes, then, in the eyes of the law you are using works for commerical purposes and the fair use argument does not apply.

Play it safe and avoid copyright problems by avoiding memes unless you are able to make your own.

Disclaimer

I am not a lawyer and this is NOT legal advice.

You might also enjoy:
Song Lyrics and Copyright 

Song Lyrics and Copyright

So you are writing your novel or family memoir and you want to include the lyrics from the song played at your grandmother’s wedding or the songs from an opera that or that dance at the prom. Can you include the lyrics without infringing copyright? Can you name your book after a favourite song without infringing copyright?

Do you need to ask permission? 

The first thing to remember is that crediting or citing the source only protects you from being accused of plagiarism, it does not remove the obligation to seek permission for use.

Is the work in the public domain? 

Public domain means that there are no copyright or other legal restrictions.

According to the United States Copyright Office “for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.” Additionally, according to a guide by Stanford, works published in the United States before 1923 are also in the public domain.

In Canada “copyright lasts for the life of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, plus 50 years following the end of that calendar year.” Refer to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for more information.

Say you want to use Etta James’ song “At Last.” It was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. Gordon died in 1959 so 1959+70 = 2029. Not in the public domain. 

Photograph shows interior view of hall with piles of copyright deposit materials on the floor in the Thomas Jefferson Building. circa 1898. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Does fair use/fair dealing apply? 

In the United States you are allowed to quote a few lines from a full-length book, without seeking permission IF, here is the big IF, your use is for “purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research.”

Does your novel or memoir fall into those categories? No.

In Canada, the similar law is called fair dealing: Use of works for purposes of private study, research, criticism, review or news reporting that does not constitute infringement of copyright.

Does your novel or memoir fall into those categories? No.

Can I call my book "At Last"?

If you want to refer to the name of a song in your writing that is ok as titles are considered facts.
However using the title as part of the title of your book would be capitalize on the popularity of the song and could be considered a copyright infringement.

Disclaimer

I am not a lawyer and this is NOT legal advice.

Further Reading

So You Want to Use Song Lyrics in Your Novel? 5 Steps to Getting Rights to Lyrics
Jane Friedman: When Do You Need to Secure Permissions?
Brad Frazer: Is It Fair Use? 7 Questions to Ask Before Using Copyrighted Material
Pat McNees: Copyright, work for hire, and other rights issues
Hippy days of the internet are over

Resources

Canadian Intellectual Property Office
Search records of registered books, music, art, and periodicals, and other works. Includes copyright ownership documents. US Copyright Office