Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the intended project scope?
- Who is managing the project?
- Copyright Restrictions
- How can I help?
1. What is the intended project scope?
We are making a concentrated effort to transcribe and post nothing but Oregon biographies. The project is not involved with any other type of document. Thus, we will not include wills, censuses, cemetery records, etc.
One goal of the project is to enter biographies from existing sources that are no longer protected by copyrights. A second goal is to collect biographies contributed directly by their authors. In both cases, we would want to make them available on the Internet, with a search engine so that individuals could be easily looked up.
We are also interested in biographies of early Oregon settlers who left Oregon and went to other states.
2. Who is managing the project?
The Coordinator of the Oregon Bios Project is Jenny Tenlen, jtenlen -at- drizzle.com. Jenny's maternal great-great grandparents (the McAfees and the Sherbondys) settled in Douglas County around 1880, with allied lines found in Coos and Lane Counties, as well.
3. Copyright Restrictions
In 1909, the United States copyright law stated that a copyright was for a period of 28 years. This could be renewed for an additional 47 year period, making a total of 75 years of copyright protection.
In 1976, the copyright law was changed. Copyrights are now for the period of the creator's life plus 50 years. Anything copyrighted before 1976 falls under the 1909 law.
Anything published in the USA prior to 1923 has no further copyright protection, and can be published freely by anyone. The same would apply to photostated copies of that material, or reprints of books originally published prior to that time. The mere reprinting of material does not extend the copyright beyond the 75 year period, unless additional material has been added, and even then only the additions may be copyrighted.
More information on copyright rules is available on the US GenWeb Project site.
4. How can I help?
Volunteers are needed to transcribe existing biographies and to submit "living biographies." For more information, go to the Volunteer's Page.
You can also help by linking to the Oregon Bios Project from your own web page. The URL to use would be:
http://jtenlen.drizzlehosting.com/ORBios/index.html