"The materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all to use"
—Ronan, Deazley; Rethinking copyright: history, theory, language.
About Free Obituaries Found
Purpose
Free Obituaries Found exists to make all obituaries freely accessible by everyone.
Founding Principles
- Obituaries are intrinsically a public good
- The value of obituaries increases with accessibility
- Obituaries should be as accessible as technology allows
- Publishing obituaries on the Internet makes them more accessible and valuable
- Obituaries contained only in libraries and funeral homes have diminished value
- Commercial news organizations are not in the business of obituary preservation
- Online memorial sites are not in the business of obituary preservation
- The primary intent of obituaries is and has always been informing the public
- Obituaries should be in the public domain
- It is more important for obituaries to be accessible than to be free
- Transcriptions are better than abstracts
- Abstracts are better than nothing
- More obituaries about a subject is better than fewer
Strategies
- Preserve obituaries for future generations
- Make all obituaries freely accessible via the Internet
- Encourage transfer of obituaries to the public domain
- Free obituaries from the constraints of physical libraries
- Encourage relatives of the deceased to write their obituaries
Tactics
- Create and market a free Internet obituary archive
- Publish, index, and preserve new obituaries
- Duplicate, transcribe, abstract, index, and preserve past obituaries
- Publish instructional materials for obituary writers, genealogists, and historians
- Pursuade obituary copyright holders to place content in the public domain and or make them freely available
Organization
The Free Obituaries Found website is owned and operated by Things to Teach, Inc.