There are local variations where legally required
By using this site, you agree to the conditions set forth below (this “Agreement”). If you disagree with any of the conditions of this Agreement, 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 this site following the posting of changes to this Agreement means that you accept those changes.
Licenses and Restrictions
This site, which is dedicated to family history and genealogical research, is operated by FamilySearch International, a Utah nonprofit corporation with its principal offices in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. (hereinafter “FamilySearch”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or a similar term), a nonprofit organization that is affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Church”). All material found at this site (including visuals, text, icons, displays, databases, media, products, services, and information) is owned or licensed by us.
Unless otherwise indicated, you may view, download, and print materials 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.
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.
Professional genealogists may use this site, our mobile apps, or FamilySearch center resources to research information for and provide documents to a client for the client’s personal, noncommercial use. However, professional genealogists may not solicit or arrange business, promote themselves, or receive payments on this site or on our property.
In addition, materials from this site may be reproduced by media personnel for use in traditional public news forums unless otherwise indicated. Any other use of information or materials found at this site, including any use by organizations or legal entities, is not permitted without our prior written permission. (See “Permission to Use Copyrights and Trademarks” below.)
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve sole discretion and right to deny, revoke, or limit use of this site, including the reproduction and any other use of any materials available through this site. It is not our responsibility, however, to determine what “fair use” means for persons wishing to use materials from this site. That remains wholly a responsibility of individual users of this site. Furthermore, we are not required to give additional source citations, or to guarantee that the materials of this site are cleared for any alternate use. Such responsibility also ultimately remains with individual users of this site. However, we maintain the right to prevent infringement of our materials and to interpret “fair use” as we understand the law.
This site is not intended for use in the Russian Federation and, therefore, should not be accessed within the Russian Federation.
Permission to Use Copyrights and Trademarks
To request permission for use of our or of our affiliates’ copyrighted materials or trademarks, please follow this link:
Note: The approximate time frame for receiving a reply is 45 days. Requests involving considerable quantities of material may take longer.
Other Requests
Other types of requests may be submitted to one of these sites.
- FamilySearch: Questions or requests relating to FamilySearch can be managed through the FamilySearch Help Center or FamilySearch Learning Center.
- Church History Library: Questions relating to materials available from the Church History Library should go through the Church History Library Catalog.
- FamilySearch Account: Questions relating to your FamilySearch Account and password can be answered at FamilySearch Account.
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) 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, and current information about yourself (including during the registration process) and to 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 with an unrestricted, fully paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide, irrevocable, sublicensable, 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, images, writings, documents, materials, recordings, discussions, information, and data relating to deceased persons or anything else) 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, publicly perform, distribute, and otherwise use (and allow others to use) your Contributed Content throughout the world, by any means we deem appropriate (electronic or otherwise, including on the Internet). You also understand and agree that as part of this license, we have the right to create (and to allow others to create) and use 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 who 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 and sharing 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 Notice provides more details regarding our use of your Contributed Content.
You agree to input data accurately to the best of your knowledge. To maintain consistencies in traditional genealogical views available on this site (such as pedigree charts, landscape views, fan charts, and other views and charts), you agree to identify persons by their biological sex and input them in their traditional male or female positions on these charts and views (e.g., father or mother). In a same-sex marriage, both spouses will be of the same sex. You may enter any notes regarding gender identity in the comments. Please refer to the Code of Conduct section for an outline of possible consequences for the improper entry of data.
This site includes a discussion feature in which individuals can comment and otherwise provide Contributed Content regarding a particular deceased individual and provide details regarding that individual. We reserve the right to reuse the discussion information and other Contributed Content 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 topic being discussed, (b) include information that might harm or embarrass any living person, 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 export controls of the United States of America 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 Content to this site, you are affirming that you have the legal right to submit that Contributed Content to us and to grant us and our sublicensees with 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 Content that you submit, post, or otherwise contribute to this site or to any other FamilySearch affiliated site.
Submitting Names for Religious Ordinances
You should only submit the names of individuals in your own family line for vicarious religious 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 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 not to impersonate another user for any purpose, including to hide your identity or to implicate another for your actions. You agree not to mine, collect, or use any information from this site in a manner that could harm, discredit, harass, or prejudice any person or entity. You further agree that, unless you have received our prior written permission, you will not use any software, technology, or device to perform a bulk download, to scrape content, or to otherwise harvest any information or materials from this site. You agree not to circumvent any of the controls or usage rules we have implemented. You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, download, transmit, display, perform, make available to the public, sell, or otherwise use any portion of this site or its materials for any non-personal or commercial use. You agree not to engage in any activity with respect to this site, its content, or its users that could constitute a criminal offense or that could give rise to a civil liability. Moreover, you agree not to republish, broadcast, post, transmit, distribute, disassemble, decompile, emulate, reverse engineer, create derivative works from, or reconstruct this site, its services, source code, or content without our express prior written permission. You further agree to do nothing that might disrupt the flow of data to or from this site or impact the service or performance of this site. You understand that the result of harmful or offensive actions, or any other violation of this Agreement, may include revocation of your right to use this site (including your right to use this site, any other FamilySearch affiliated site or mobile apps, and any material therefrom) and 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. Such third-party 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 a website that you accessed through a link on this 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 website should be restricted, the operator of such site should promptly notify us.
Data Privacy and Protection
By using this site and submitting your personal data to us, you consent to the processing in the United States of America, or in other locations, of any personal data that you submit in accordance with our Privacy Notice. 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 that the invalid or unenforceable provision is an essential term to this Agreement, in which case we may at our sole discretion amend this 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 materials in 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. In no event shall our total liability to you for all damages, losses, and causes of action exceed the amount paid by you, if any, for accessing this site or any linked site.
Disclaimers
THIS SITE AND THE MATERIALS AT THIS SITE AND ANY LINKED SITE 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 AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS OF THIS SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.
Trademarks
The following is a non-exhaustive list of our and our affiliates’ trademarks and service marks:
FamilySearch
FamilySearch GEDCOM
International Genealogical Index
RootsTech
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
These marks are identifiers of FamilySearch or Intellectual Reserve, Inc. and are registered in the United States and other countries. For additional information regarding our and our affiliates’ trademarks and service marks and their proper use, please see Guidelines for Use of FamilySearch Trademarks.
Questions
For further assistance or information regarding our and our affiliates’ trademarks and copyrighted materials, you may contact our 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@FamilySearch.org
Updated: 2023-09-01
