This account was created in order to contribute photos or manage memorials for family members. In general, I do not expect to manage many memorials for people not related to me in some way and do not expect to manage a large number of memorials.

A few memorials I manage are for people distantly related. On occasion I just asked for "suggested edits," and the other contributor simply transferred the memorial to me to make whatever changes I felt necessary. In other circumstances, no matter how close you are to another person and their memorial, your requests may be ignored. That has been my experience.

In some situations, if I have a good photo or copy of obituary of someone not related to my family, I may add it to an existing memorial managed by someone else, but even then, it is likely something I found while researching records for my own family.

Photos that I have posted originate from the personal files of my family records (unless otherwise noted) and have been indicated to be "all rights reserved" to discourage use without permission. In nearly all cases posted photos are cropped from larger photos in order to highlight a particular person or persons but also to be able to show at a later time if necessary that all posted photos are traceable to my larger originals. This is not necessarily true for such items as obituary information that may be posted as scanned images available from public documents or news reports.

In terms of posting obituary information from publications which may claim copyright protection, such postings by me for memorials are deemed as presenting information in the public's interest and for non-commercial purposes. Remember that obituaries published in a newspaper represent a small excerpt of the overall publication for that day and were usually written by family members and intended to be made public. In addition, obituaries are often developed by family members in concert with funeral homes, published at funeral home websites, and then disseminated by funeral homes to local newspapers for more widespread notification of the public. Thus, the posting of such information represents "fair use" under 17 U.S.C. 107. If another person desires to use that posted information elsewhere, he/she will need to evaluate whether the use qualifies under the requirements of 17 U.S.C. 107. However, obituary information will be reviewed for possible naming of still living persons (survivors) and such information will in some way be removed or generalized prior to posting consistent with FAG policy.

I prefer people NOT post graphic detail which can include full copies of death certificates. Death certificates are great for collecting official information on location and date of death, but as to contributing causes of death, I prefer to keep specific information confidential rather than publishing the nature of what might be debilitating diseases that family members might not want to be prominent in someone's memorial. Death certificates also add a cluttered look to a public memorial and are more appropriate for ancestry websites controlled within someone's specific account. Just because you happen to be able to find detailed personal information on someone does not mean it is appropriate to post to this public website. For example, the degree of detail provided in most published obituaries is probably the extent to which family members wanted cause of death information to become public, often simply saying that a person passed after a "short" or "long" illness.

This account was created in order to contribute photos or manage memorials for family members. In general, I do not expect to manage many memorials for people not related to me in some way and do not expect to manage a large number of memorials.

A few memorials I manage are for people distantly related. On occasion I just asked for "suggested edits," and the other contributor simply transferred the memorial to me to make whatever changes I felt necessary. In other circumstances, no matter how close you are to another person and their memorial, your requests may be ignored. That has been my experience.

In some situations, if I have a good photo or copy of obituary of someone not related to my family, I may add it to an existing memorial managed by someone else, but even then, it is likely something I found while researching records for my own family.

Photos that I have posted originate from the personal files of my family records (unless otherwise noted) and have been indicated to be "all rights reserved" to discourage use without permission. In nearly all cases posted photos are cropped from larger photos in order to highlight a particular person or persons but also to be able to show at a later time if necessary that all posted photos are traceable to my larger originals. This is not necessarily true for such items as obituary information that may be posted as scanned images available from public documents or news reports.

In terms of posting obituary information from publications which may claim copyright protection, such postings by me for memorials are deemed as presenting information in the public's interest and for non-commercial purposes. Remember that obituaries published in a newspaper represent a small excerpt of the overall publication for that day and were usually written by family members and intended to be made public. In addition, obituaries are often developed by family members in concert with funeral homes, published at funeral home websites, and then disseminated by funeral homes to local newspapers for more widespread notification of the public. Thus, the posting of such information represents "fair use" under 17 U.S.C. 107. If another person desires to use that posted information elsewhere, he/she will need to evaluate whether the use qualifies under the requirements of 17 U.S.C. 107. However, obituary information will be reviewed for possible naming of still living persons (survivors) and such information will in some way be removed or generalized prior to posting consistent with FAG policy.

I prefer people NOT post graphic detail which can include full copies of death certificates. Death certificates are great for collecting official information on location and date of death, but as to contributing causes of death, I prefer to keep specific information confidential rather than publishing the nature of what might be debilitating diseases that family members might not want to be prominent in someone's memorial. Death certificates also add a cluttered look to a public memorial and are more appropriate for ancestry websites controlled within someone's specific account. Just because you happen to be able to find detailed personal information on someone does not mean it is appropriate to post to this public website. For example, the degree of detail provided in most published obituaries is probably the extent to which family members wanted cause of death information to become public, often simply saying that a person passed after a "short" or "long" illness.