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About This Site

The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people. Through its Web sites, the Library offers broad public access to a wide range of information, including historical materials that may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials must be viewed in the context of the relevant time period. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in such materials.

General Disclaimer

The Library of Congress Web sites have links to other federal agencies. We also link to other organizations' Web sites when there is a business reason to do so. This linking does not constitute the Library's endorsement of the content of their Web sites or of their policies or products.

View the standard disclaimer for external links.

Security

For site security and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, deny service, otherwise cause damage or access non-public information. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the United States criminal code (18 U.S.C. 1030). Information regarding possible violations of law may be provided to law enforcement officials.

View information about physical security at the Library of Congress.

About Copyright and the Collections

Whenever possible, the Library of Congress provides factual information about copyright owners and related matters in the catalog records, finding aids and other texts that accompany collections. As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and generally does not grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Permission and possible fees may be required from the copyright owner independently of the Library. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Researchers must make their own assessments of rights in light of their intended use.

The Library of Congress wants to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified on this Web site so that we may make the necessary corrections.

View more information about copyright law from the U.S. Copyright Office.

Privacy and Publicity Rights

Privacy and publicity rights reflect separate and distinct interests from copyright interests. Patrons desiring to use materials from this website bear the responsibility of making individualized determinations as to whether privacy and publicity rights are implicated by the nature of the materials and how they use such materials.

While copyright protects the copyright holder's property rights in the work or intellectual creation, privacy and publicity rights protect the interests of the person(s) who may be the subject(s) of the work or intellectual creation. Issues pertaining to privacy and publicity may arise when a researcher contemplates the use of letters, diary entries, photographs or reportage in visual, audio, and print formats found in library collections. Because two or more people are often involved in the work (e.g., photographer and subject, interviewer and interviewee) and because of the ease with which various media in digital format can be reused, photographs, audio files, and motion pictures represent materials in which issues of privacy and publicity emerge with some frequency.

The distinctions among privacy rights, publicity rights, and copyright are best illustrated by example: An advertiser wishes to use a photograph for a print advertisement. The advertiser approaches the photographer, who holds the copyright in the photograph, and negotiates a license to use the photograph. The advertiser also is required to determine the relationship between the photographer and the subject of the photograph. If no formal relationship (e.g., a release form signed by the subject) exists that permits the photographer to license the use of the photograph for all uses or otherwise waives the subject's, sitter's or model's rights, then the advertiser must seek permission from the subject of the photograph because the subject has retained both privacy and publicity rights in the use of their likeness. The publicity right of the subject is that their image may not be commercially exploited without his/her consent and potentially compensation.

While copyright is a federally protected right under the United States Copyright Act, with statutorily described fair use defenses against charges of copyright infringement, neither privacy nor publicity rights are the subject of federal law. Note also that while fair use is a defense to copyright infringement, fair use is not a defense to claims of violation of privacy or publicity rights. Privacy and publicity rights are the subject of state laws. What may be permitted in one state may not be permitted in another. Note also that related causes of action may be pursued under the federal Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125 (a), for example, for unauthorized uses of a person's identity in order to create a false endorsement.

While an individual's right to privacy generally ends when the individual dies, publicity rights associated with the commercial value connected with an individual's name, image or voice may continue. For example, many estates or representatives of famous authors, musicians, actors, photographers, politicians, sports figures, celebrities, and other public figures continue to control and license the uses of those figures' names, likenesses, etc.

Although the risks for using an image in a periodical's "editorial" pages may be less than for use in advertising or for other commercial purposes, the risk can still be high if the person depicted is held up to ridicule or presented in a libelous manner. While it is true that famous or public figures who seek recognition have thereby surrendered some privacy, they may have the right to control the commercial use of their image (likeness, voice, signature, etc.). This principle recognizes that a celebrity's image can be an asset in trade.

User Privacy and Cookies

For site management, this computer system uses software programs to create summary statistics that are used for such purposes as assessing what information is of most or least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance areas. The Library of Congress collects and stores the following information:

  • The name of the domain from which you access the Internet
  • The date and time you access our site
  • The pages you peruse and files you access
  • The Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to our site

If you choose to provide us with personal information, as in an e-mail message, the Library of Congress will use this information to respond to your request. There are times when your e-mail is forwarded within the Library to employees who are better able to assist you. The Library may also forward requests for assistance to another appropriate institution for response. Except for the foregoing exceptions and for authorized law enforcement activities, the Library does not share e-mail with outside organizations without obtaining your permission.

The Library is following guidelines in the April, 2001 GAO Report entitled "Internet Privacy: Implementation of Federal Guidance for Agency Use of "Cookies." (GAO-01-424). "Cookies" are text files that have unique identifiers associated with them and are used to store and retrieve information that allow Web sites to recognize returning users, track online purchases, or maintain and serve customized Web pages. Cookies may be classified as either "session" or "persistent." Session cookies expire when the user exists the browser, while persistent cookies can remain on the user's computer for a specified length of time.

The Library occasionally uses session cookies for special features such as America's Library and The Learning Page. This information is deleted when your session ends and is not collected or saved.

E-mail Spam Blocking

If you sent an e-mail directly to a Library of Congress mailbox and it was blocked, your e-mail may have been inadvertently captured by our spam filter. The Library uses measures that are generally effective against blocking spam. Any approach to filtering, however, results in some legitimate mail being lost. The Library continues to monitor the situation to keep spam at a manageable level and minimize the loss of legitimate e-mail.

View more information about e-mail spam blocking.

September 29, 2004



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