Searching and transcribing from SEAX - copyright?

[clairec666]

I've got a subscription to SEAX. As it's a subscription site, are there any restrictions on posting information I find on this forum? (Not the images, obviously)

Also, I'm thinking of transcribing records for a couple of parishes. Would I be in breach of copyright if I published them online?

Sorry to ask, but it's not obvious on SEAX, and they haven't replied to my email...

[KGarrad]

It's all in the Terms and Conditions!

2. Use

2.1 Images found on the Seax and Essex Ancestors service can only be used for non-commercial research or private study as defined in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1998 and associated secondary legislation.

2.2 Images must not be sold in any form and must not be used as a part of a compilation of independent portfolios of images, whether sold or not.

2.3 Publication of images by ERO does not imply a right on the part of the user to reproduce or publish images or absolve the user from the need to obtain permission from the owner of the copyright to reproduce or publish items subject to copyright.

2.4 Strictly no commercial or organizational downloading, publication, reproduction or printing of images from Seax or Essex Ancestors is permitted without the prior consent of ERO and the owner of the copyright in the records/images.

2.5 Images are not permitted for use within publications or exhibitions, including online publications or exhibitions, commercial or non-commercial websites, without written permission from ERO.

[clairec666]

Thanks, I guessed we wouldn't be able to post the images anywhere, but what about transcribing from them, or quoting facts from images we've seen?

[KGarrad]

Because a subscription is needed to look at Parish Registers, I would guess that they would be covered by copyright?

After all, you would prevent SEAX from earning money by offering the PR's on the interweb?!

[dawnsh]

You really should wait for clarification from SEAX with regards to transcribing parish records.

SEAX might have agreements in place with the parishes which would prevent you from doing that.

The records might also have been transcribed so you might be duplicating something that already exists.

With regards to replying to queries here, as long as you transcribe exactly what you see there shouldn't be a problem.

[clairec666]

Thanks

[helvissa]

Hello Claire,

I transcribe parish registers from Essex. They appear on www.freereg.org.uk (there's several people transcribing Essex on there so have a look to see if anyone's working on the parishes you're interested in). There's over 800,000 Essex transcriptions on there: http://www.freereg.org.uk/freereg_contents (contact Julie if you'd like to join forces with FreeREG).

I also put them on my own website, along with transcriptions by a couple of other FreeREG'ers: www.essexandsuffolksurnames.co.uk

I checked with ERO before putting them online, and they're happy for people to transcribe them. I get the impression that, as far as they're concerned, it makes their records more accessible, so the more transcriptions that are done, the more people will access their archives (to check their image against the transcription before committing to adding the event to your tree, to look for wills, manorial records, Poor Law records etc as your tree expands from using the parish registers). The images however mustn't go online. Someone from ERO wrote an article in the Essex Family History Society's newsletter which implied they were supportive of volunteer transcribers.

In terms of copyright, the image (so the scan of the parish register) belongs to ERO but the information on it - "John son of John & Sarah Jones was baptised 23 December 1752" isn't copyrighted. Hence transcriptions are fine - and in fact, the transcription becomes the copyright of the transcriber (because it's your work that's gone into transcribing it). This is the copyright interpretation which FreeREG operates under.

The Essex Family History Society have transcribed some parishes and you can buy CDs of them but there's not many, and only Colchester goes back before 1813 on their CDs: http://www.esfh.org.uk/products/Essex-Parish-Registers-~-Buy-CDs.html. This is why I decided to transcribe them myself!

Hope that helps. It's lots of fun transcribing. You find all sorts of strange notes, and sometimes you might find someone unexpected from your family wandering into a parish you hadn't known they were connected with. It's really eye-opening. (if not rather eye-straining sometimes!).

Best wishes,
Helen.

[clairec666]

Hi Helen
I actually registered to transcribe for FreeREG a couple of weeks ago. I'm starting on records from Burnham on Crouch.
Thanks for the explanation of copyright. I'm happy to do look-ups for people while I'm transcribing, and I didn't want to infringe SEAX's rules!

[helvissa]

Oh yay, I'm to hear you're going to transcribe with FreeREG. It's a really nice project to be involved with.