Each interview in this collection has been donated by the narrator to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library via a Deed of Gift. As such, these interviews are the property of this institution and must be treated accordingly. We encourage students, researchers and other patrons to use the interviews as the rich source of primary historical documents they are, but also caution patrons to adhere to current copyright and privacy law when doing so.
Usage
Materials from this collection are not to be deposited in other repositories, nor used for resale or commercial purposes without the authorization from the Audio-Visual Curator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.
Contact:
Audio-Visual Curator
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
112 North Sixth Street
Springfield, IL 62701
Telephone: (217) 785-7955
Copyright
Responsibility for making an assessment on copyright issues for the use of material from the Library's Oral History collection, and for securing any necessary permissions, rests with persons desiring to use the material. Material from this collection can be used for educational and other non-commercial purposes without the written permission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. "Fair use" criteria of Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 must be followed. Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute (Title 17 of the U.S. Code), it is permissible to use limited portions of a work, including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. Accordingly, we recommend that users who believe that use of this collection's material may exceed fair use criteria contact the interviewee directly. Additionally, we recommend that a patron's use of such material be approved in writing. You may contact the ALPL Audio-Visual staff for assistance in contacting interviewees. In such cases, however, we will act only as an intermediary, or at most will provide the last known address of the interviewee.
Photographs and other documents
Many of our interviews also include supporting documents, typically digital scans of photographs, documents and letters. These digital scans add another dimension to the narrator's stories and enrich our understanding of the events and the personalities involved. We believe they are indispensable in telling the narrator's complete story. However, we caution patrons who wish to use photographs or other documents provided in this collection. In some cases, there are copyright questions that may arise on the origin of documents. For example, we occasionally include scans of newspaper articles or other documents. Whenever possible, we also obtain permission to post the documents.
Patrons who desire to obtain permission to use selected photographs or other documents must contact the Audio-Visual Curator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.
In the case of photographs, our interviewees often do not recall how they actually acquired a photograph. Often, many decades have elapsed, and copyright laws have tightened considerably in the past few years. Still, the images we have posted are valuable historical documents in their own right, and we take seriously our charge to preserve the interviewee's story as accurately and completely as possible. Therefore, patrons will note the inclusion of a standard set of copyright status statements with many image captions. In rare cases where there is uncertainty about the copyright owner, only thumbnails of photographs are provided.
Copyright Status Statements
- Scans of photographs/documents donated by the interviewee where the interviewee's family clearly holds the copyrights to the use of the photos/documents.
- Caption Statement: "Narrator's photo." Patrons will still be required to contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator if they desire to use the photos or documents for publications, articles, etc.
- Style of photograph: Low Resolution watermarked photograph
- Scans of photographs/documents donated by the interviewee which are in the public domain. This includes those owned by governmental agencies or
otherwise residing in the public domain.
- Caption Statement: "This image is considered to be in the public domain"
- Style of photograph: Low Resolution watermarked photograph
- Scans of photographs/documents donated by the interviewee where it is unknown who possesses the original copyright, but where
no claim is expected.
- Caption Statement: "May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator."
- Style of photograph: Low Resolution watermarked photograph
- Scans of photographs/documents donated by the interviewee where it is unknown who possesses the original copyright, but where a copyright claim is possible but
not probable.
- Caption Statement: "May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator."
- Style of photograph: Low Resolution watermarked photograph
- Scans of photographs/documents donated by the interviewee where the interviewee does not possess the copyright, and where the original copyright owner is known. The rights to post this photograph have been obtained from the copyright owner, and are included in the caption. (Newspaper articles and photos taken by
professional photographers are included in this category.)
- Caption Statement: Citation on the source is provided.
- Style of photograph: Low Resolution watermarked photograph
- Scans of photographs/documents donated by the interviewee where the interviewee does not possess the copyright, and where the original copyright owner is known. The rights to post this photograph have not/could not be obtained from the copyright owner. Citation information is included in the caption. (Newspaper articles and photos taken by professional photographers are included in this category.)
- Caption Statement: Source citation is provided.
- Style of photograph: Thumbnail photograph
Charges & Fees for use of material
Usage fees vary depending upon the type of use. Contact the Audio-Visual Curator for specifics. For brief quotations from interviews, the "Fair Use" criteria of Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 must be followed.
Restrictions and Redactions
All narrators are asked to sign a Deed of Gift form, which essentially gives the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library the copyright to the interview. (Interviews where no Deed of Gift exists will not be made available to the public, nor will any record of their existence be noted on the web site.) In rare occasions, interviewees have requested that all or portions of their interview be restricted. In the case of these interviews, interviews are indicated as RESTRICTED. Restrictions generally take one of two forms.
Restrictions by date
A narrator may specify a date when the restricted portions of the interview will be made available to the public.
Restricted Access
A narrator may request to pre-approve an individual's or institution's access to the interview and associated materials.
Linking Disclaimer
By providing links to other sites, Abraham Presidential Library Museum does not guarantee, approve, or endorse the information or products available on these sites.
Privacy and publicity rights reflect separate and distinct interests from copyright interests. Users desiring to use material from this collection bear the responsibility of making individualized determinations whether privacy and publicity rights are implied by the nature of the materials and how they may wish to use the materials. For more information, we recommend that patrons refer to the following Library of Congress web page: