By using this site, you agree to all of the terms and conditions set forth herein (“Agreement”). If you disagree with any of the terms or conditions, do not use this site. We reserve the right to change this Agreement at any time, so please check for changes to this Agreement each time you use this site. Your continued use of the site following the posting of changes to this Agreement means that you accept those changes.
This site, which is dedicated to family history and genealogical research, is owned and operated by FamilySearch International (hereinafter “we”, “us”, or a similar term), a nonprofit organization that is affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Church”).
Licenses and Restrictions
All content found on this site (including visuals, text, icons, displays, databases, media, and general information) is owned by us or licensed to us. You may view, download, and print content from this site only for your personal, noncommercial use, or for your use as a volunteer indexer in connection with the FamilySearch Indexing Program pursuant to the FamilySearch Indexing Program Terms and Conditions or the FamilySearch Indexing Software License Agreement. In addition to the foregoing, unless otherwise indicated, content may be viewed, downloaded, or reproduced by media personnel for use in traditional public news media. You may not post content from this site on another website or on a computer network without our permission. You may not transmit or distribute content from this site to other sites. You may not use this site or information found at this site (including the names and addresses of those who have submitted information) to sell or promote products or services, to solicit clients, or for any other commercial purpose.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the sole discretion and right to deny, revoke, or limit use of this site, including reproduction of site content. It is not our responsibility to determine what “fair use” means for persons wishing to use content from this site. That remains wholly a responsibility of the user. Furthermore, we are not required to give additional source citations. Also, in no case do we guarantee that any content on this site is legally cleared for any use beyond personal, noncommercial use. Such responsibility also ultimately remains with the user. However, we do maintain the right to prevent infringement of our content and to interpret “fair use” as we understand the law.
Due to local legal considerations in Japan, we do not generally allow residents of Japan to access this site. In some instances, subject to legally necessary measures and controls, we may allow limited access to specially authorized and registered Church members in Japan.
Registration Obligations
In consideration for the use of this site, you represent that (a) you have read and agree to the terms of this Agreement, and (b) that you are legally able to register (if required) to use this site and any other FamilySearch affiliated site. If you submit personal information to this site, you agree to provide true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself (including during the registration process) and maintain and keep current and accurate this information about yourself, should it ever change. If you provide false, inaccurate, inappropriate, or libelous information or images, we may suspend or terminate your account and use of this site. During the registration process, you will be asked to create a sign-in name and password to access certain portions of this or other FamilySearch affiliated sites. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your sign-in name and password. You are responsible for all activities that occur using this sign-in name and password. If someone else uses your sign-in name and password in such a way as to breach the terms of this Agreement, you remain responsible for his/her actions, and use of your sign-in name may be suspended or terminated.
Licenses and Rights Granted to Us
In exchange for your use of this site and/or our storage of any data you submit, you hereby grant us an unrestricted, fully paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide, and perpetual license to use any and all information, content, and other materials (collectively, “Contributed Content”) that you submit or otherwise provide to this site (including, without limitation, genealogical data and discussions and information or data relating to deceased persons) for any and all purposes, in any and all manners, and in any and all forms of media that we, in our sole discretion, deem appropriate for the furtherance of our mission to promote family history and genealogical research. As part of this license, you give us permission to copy, publicly display, transmit, broadcast, and otherwise distribute your Contributed Content throughout the world, by any means we deem appropriate (electronic or otherwise, including the Internet). You also understand and agree that as part of this license, we have the right to create derivative works from your Contributed Content by combining all or a portion of it with that of other contributors or by otherwise modifying your Contributed Content.
Collaboration with Others
You acknowledge that a primary purpose of this site is to enable collaboration between users of this site and other sites that wish to expand their genealogical databases and knowledge. You acknowledge that we may utilize Contributed Content, including any personal information of living individuals, that you submit for the purpose of collaborating with other individuals and organizations (including commercial genealogical organizations) in order, for example, to create a global common pedigree for the purposes of increasing participation in family history and preserving records throughout the world. You acknowledge that collaboration between multiple individuals and organizations allows us to obtain additional data that we may provide to users of this site—thus allowing users to extend their own ancestral lines. Our Privacy Policy provides more details regarding our use of your Contributed Content.
This site includes a discussion feature in which individuals can comment regarding a particular deceased individual and provide details regarding that individual. We reserve the right to reuse the discussion information provided and to publish it to others in an effort to help resolve open issues posed or to help educate others. We ask you to be selective in the information you include in your online discussions and other Contributed Content, communicating instead through e-mail or other means where personal contact information or other personal or sensitive information is being provided. You acknowledge that any items you submit through the discussion feature will be viewable by anyone able to access this site. The discussion feature is intended to help collaboration efforts, to coordinate the correction of errors, and to facilitate additional research with other interested users. The discussion feature may not (a) be used for reasons irrelevant to the deceased individual being discussed, (b) include information that might harm or embarrass living relatives, or (c) include offensive, indecent, inappropriate, threatening, or abusive language or content. Disagreements regarding facts pertaining to a deceased individual are likely to occur, and such disagreements should be set out in clear terms based on the facts and citing sources where possible, without resorting to abrupt, insulting, or unkind language or comments. The discussion feature may not be used to provide links to external websites with inappropriate content (although links to related and tasteful information regarding deceased individuals may be appropriate) or in order to solicit business or offer research services. Although we have no obligation to do so, we reserve the right, in our sole and absolute discretion, to delete or edit Contributed Content provided in the discussion feature and similar features and to deny users access to such features for any or no reason. Please refer to the Code of Conduct section for an outline of the possible consequences for the improper use of the discussion feature and similar features.
Software
If you are able to download software at this site, you may only use that software as provided by the license agreement that accompanies the software. You are solely responsible for abiding by any United States export controls that may be applicable to any software provided on this site.
Right to Submit
Any Contributed Content you submit to this site is subject to this Agreement and to the FamilySearch Content Submission Agreement. You represent and warrant that you will not submit anything to this site that violates any third party’s rights (including, but not limited to, copyrights, privacy rights, publicity rights, contract rights, or other proprietary rights). Whenever you submit Contributed Data to this site, you are affirming that you have the legal right to submit that Contributed Data to us and to grant us the rights and licenses set out in this Agreement and in the FamilySearch Content Submission Agreement. You accept legal responsibility for our use of any Contributed Content you submit. You are solely responsible for all Contributed Data that you submit, post or otherwise contribute to this site or to any other FamilySearch affiliated site.
Submitting Names for LDS Temple Ordinances
You should only submit the names of individuals in your own family line for vicarious temple ordinances, and you should not submit the names of unrelated persons such as celebrities or famous people, or those names gathered from unapproved extraction projects, such as Jewish Holocaust victims.
Code of Conduct
You agree that you will not individually, or as part of any group or collective effort, submit or post information to this site (either at registration, as a genealogical submission, through a discussion feature, or through any other feature where any Contributed Content can be provided) that could be deemed harmful or offensive to other users. You also agree that you will not impersonate another user in order to hide your identity or implicate another in such actions. You agree not to mine, collect, or use any information from this site with the intent to harm, discredit, harass, or prejudice any person or entity. You further agree to do nothing that might disrupt the flow of data to and from this site, impact the service or performance of this site, or circumvent any of the controls or usage rules that we have implemented. You understand that the result of harmful or offensive actions may include revocation of your right to use this site and other FamilySearch affiliated sites, as well as legal action against you.
Care of Submissions
We intend to use reasonable efforts to preserve the integrity of your Contributed Content and to avoid errors or omissions in the content of this site. However, you agree that we shall be neither responsible nor liable for errors or omissions in any content you may find on this site, nor for loss, damage, or corruption of Contributed Content that you submit or post.
Linking
For your convenience, this site may contain links to websites operated by others. These sites are not maintained or controlled by us, and we are not responsible for their content. Although we have made a good faith effort to link only to tasteful, appropriate sites, some may contain inappropriate or objectionable material. If you find such material while using the site, please notify us immediately.
We believe that those who make information available on the Internet expect that it will be publicly and widely available. Therefore, we believe that linking to other sites is legally permissible and consistent with the expectations of those who use the Internet. However, if access to a particular site should be restricted, the site operator should promptly notify us.
Data Privacy and Protection
If you are located outside the United States, you consent to the processing in the United States of America of any personal data that you submit. You also agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding the transmission of personal data to or from the United States of America and the country in which you reside.
Jurisdiction and Applicable Law
This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Utah, United States of America, as applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within the state, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. Any action you bring to enforce this Agreement or any matters related to this site shall be brought in either the state or federal courts located in Salt Lake County, Utah, and you hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action. You agree to this regardless of your location or any inconvenience to you. If any provision of this Agreement is unlawful, void, or unenforceable (in whole or in part), the remaining provisions shall not be affected, unless we determine, in our sole discretion, that the invalid or unenforceable provision is an essential term to this Agreement, in which case we may, at our sole discretion, amend the Agreement.
Limitations of Liability
We are not liable for any special or consequential damages resulting from your use of, or your inability to use, this site or the content on this site or any linked site, including, but not limited to, lost profits, business interruption, and loss of programs or other data on your information handling system. You hereby acknowledge and agree that in the event that any portion of this limitation of our liability is found to be unenforceable, our total liability to you for all damages, losses, and causes of action shall not exceed the amount paid by you, if any, for accessing this site or any linked site.
Disclaimers
The content on this site and any FamilySearch affiliated websites are provided “as is” and without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of title, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, and warranties of non-infringement. We do not represent or warrant that the functions contained on this site will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the servers that make it available are free of viruses or other harmful components.
Trademarks
“FAMILYSEARCH,” “INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX,” “PERSONAL ANCESTRAL FILE,” and “THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS” are trademarks of Intellectual Reserve, Inc., an affiliate of FamilySearch International.
Questions and Copyright Requests
For further assistance or information regarding our copyrighted materials or the copyrighted materials of the Church, you may contact the Church’s Intellectual Property Office at:
Phone: 1-801-240-3959 or 1-800-453-3860, ext. 2-3959
Fax: 1-801-240-1187
E-Mail: cor-intellectualproperty@ChurchofJesusChrist.org
To request use of our or the Church’s copyrighted materials, please complete the appropriate form that pertains to your request:
For general requests: Copyright Request Form
For material to be used in a manuscript: Copyright Request—Manuscript Form
For the creation of musical arrangements: Copyright Request—Music Arrangement Form
The request form and any other needed materials as outlined in the request form may be sent to:
Attention: Licensing
Intellectual Property Office
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150-0018
You may also fax or e-mail the form to the fax number or e-mail address listed above.
Note: The approximate time frame for receiving a reply for a noncommercial request is two to four weeks; commercial requests require approximately four to six weeks.
Updated 2015-02-03
