what is policy about copying usgenweb files?

Question

Ancestry keeps threatening to remove access to old usgenweb files.

This is the Notice they put on each file followed by the name and email address of the contributor:

USGENWEB NOTICE:
All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the 
contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws 
and Regulations.

In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these 
documents may be used by anyone for their personal research.  They may be used 
by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is 
included.

These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit.

Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from 
the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites.

The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file 
permanently for free access.

This file was contributed and copyrighted by:

<name of coontributor>

<email of contributor>

So what is our obligation? How do we help the contributors preserve the files and meet the obligations of copyright law?

I have written and asked for permission for the Rand file, but what about all the others?

Comments

Unfortunately we cannot help with preservation by making copies on WikiTree, because it is for profit, not non-commercial. See Is WikiTree non-profit?

Answer 1

If you're concerned about a particular web page going away (or the link breaking) in the future, one thing you can do is go to the Internet Archive https://archive.org/web/ ; if the URL has not been archived in the past (to an archive.org URL), you can click the button to do the backup now.

For example this URL

http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/dallas/court/wrrand.txt

was backed up in 2015:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150913015806/http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/dallas/court/wrrand.txt

The above archive.org URL should be reasonably permanent, and you could update the WT profile with it.

Answer 2

Basically, copy/paste is discouraged on WikiTree, due in large part to the fact that there may be extant copyrights.

There is such a thing as ''fair use'', but full source citations must accompany that.

Answer 3

As others have said, there are issues due to copyright. The original contributors retain their copyright until it expires. For the USA, that right persists until 70 years after the authors death. Signatories to the Berne Convention have at least 50 years but many go to 70. The rights are inherited by the heir(s) of the holder. Excerpts of the work can be used under fair use (fair dealing in other places).

To post on WT, you would need written permission from the copyright holder. As suggested, preserve them through Internet Archive.