Is it right that someone copies profiles from here to use on another site?

Question

I also work on FamilySearch.org and have noticed someone that is literally copying and pasting profiles from WikiTree for use on the profiles there without any concern for the hard work being done here.

Any example can be seen here- https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LZ2B-CYQ

If you follow the family (Bread/Breed) for a few generations, the person that is doing this has done it to at least 10 profiles that I've seen.

Can they really just copy and paste? She has at least provided a link to where she copied it from but that just doesn't seem right to me.

Comments

I'd rather have someone copy my stuff than some of the addled hallucinations I've had to correct.

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I've seen many errors duplicated between sites which is frustrating to reach out to people and tell them their info is wrong. Even on FindAGrave my great-grandmother's LNAB was wrong and it took me a while to have it corrected!

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When it happened to one of mine (copied to genie) I was initially annoyed but then decided that it was better to take it as flattery After all the reason I'm adding things here is to publish them for 'posterity'  It does now have the profile sourced to a generic wikitree.com.

What does bug me is that the c and p doesn't work very well as the formatting is lost.  The subheadings appear in the wrong places, the sources are all squashed together in continuous text and the numbers for the citations don't go anywhere.

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You know, I think that is probably what frustrated me as well. Maybe I can clean them up so at least it looks better?

Answer 1

I see people copying information from Family Search, Ancestry, and other sites into wiki tree.  What is the difference?  We are trying to collaborate and other sites are probably wanting the correct information on their sites, also.

It is interesting that the wiki profile is stated in the biography, but it is not listed as a source for the profile!!

Comments

It is interesting that the wiki profile is stated in the biography, but it is not listed as a source for the profile!!

ah, right... then its just a link, to connect the two sites together. We often add FamilySearch links to WikiTree profiles too. We're just saying we're talking about the same person on both sites. Doesn't mean anything has been copied.

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If you look at it, it states, From wiki with the profile link, then, it is a direct copy of wiki tree, including the sources, with the multiple references and numbers back with inline citations.

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What I am referring it is that the person came to WikiTree, highlighted the text in the bio, copied the text and then pasted it to the bio on Family Search. You can tell they did this because the inline citations do not have links like they do here. When you copy and paste it only does the text, not the code behind the formatting.

Answer 2

I see no official reason why she can't, however it is rude and tactless. It makes for a sloppy mess on her FS profile. FS already deleted it once on the 19th of this month. The individuals who contributed the information could ask her to remove it, but they all would have to know about it and decide if they wanted to contact her.

 This is a good argument for 'protected projects' that we have in place here. Thank you for deleting the bridge photo :)

Comments

I've deleted that bridge photo on so many profiles, ha! I do understand that many would like a photo for each person but maybe something a bit more suited to the timeline of the person involved?

:)

Answer 3

What exactly is being copied?

The person existed. They were born on such-n-such day. They died on such-n-such day. Married. Had children. Most of this information is already public, and verifiable, from multiple sources.

These are facts. Facts can't be copyrighted.

On the other hand... if they are merely copying unsourced family trees, then there's no proof -- yet -- that they even existed. (yes, we have unsourced family trees here at WikiTree too)

Comments

ah, I see... copying the whole biography... yeah, that's probably not right.

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It would be much better to just put the link to the WikiTree profile on the geni profile, instead of pasting the entire WikiTree biography there.  After all, we consider all profiles a work in progress and if anything is ever changed, then that pasted version will be out of date.  At least give the person credit for crediting WikiTree and including the link, though.

Answer 4

I’ve had profiles I’ve written copied over to Geni. I don’t mind at all since one of my main goals as a Wikitreer is to have accurate, documented information attached to people.  If I didn’t want to share my work I wouldn’t put it on the Internet.  Would it be nice to be acknowleged when someone copies?  Sure, but if the copier did a Google search and a Wikitree profile came up, how would they even know who did the work?