Sunday, January 1, 2006

I need help with copyright laws in Ontario, for newspaper obituaries. I have transcribed numerous obits/bmds and want to understand if there are any copyright laws I need to worry about when posting the information on my website. I was not charged for the information (only photocopy costs) and I am not charging for the information. I would obviously site the source with the records...but do I need to worry about anything?

Courtesy of Allan via Bryan Cantley of the Canadian Newspaper Association - Copyright subsists in any original work. An obituary can contain original work unless it is a basic "John Doe of such and such address died on January 21, 2006". Even though copyright may subsist in an obituary that merely means that the original expression cannot be copied to any substantial degree. The facts in the obituary however can be copied or repeated.

My 2nd gr grandmother was the youngest of her family, having 8 siblings. Her parents, born in Ireland, immigrated to the states in 1848. I have recently found Wisconsin, USA census records that indicate her oldest sister, born 1845 and oldest brother, born 1846 were actually born in Canada. One record says her brother was born in Ontario. There was no indication as to where in Ontario I should start my search as I follow the path backwards to Ireland. I am wondering if someone knows a particular immigration flow for people leaving Ireland, travelling into Canada and then removing themselves, again, to the USA? If there was a pattern, then that would at least give me a place to start. Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.

See our Beginner's Guide to Ontario Genealogy and follow the suggestions regarding those born "somewhere" in Ontario.