One of our staff is involved with the Michigan Oral History Association, and she sent this question, and got two replies which could be helpful:

1. Cam, professor at U of Mich.

Consent needs to be obtained from the individuals, if possible. If interviewees have passed, then consent should be sought from families and an offer should be made to return the tapes to them.

There is an opportunity to connect here. Interviewees and their families may be quite happy to see the tapes curated and made available (and have input into that). But, the stories are theirs to publish or not.

That’s my assessment; it is hard to lose material or to risk losing material. But, it’s not your material to lose in this case. It’s your material to return - either as a cool exhibit/collection or as a direct return back to the interviewees/families.

I’m guessing university counsel will give you similar feedback. Another issue may be exactly how old the recordings are. That might resolve the copyright question from a legal standpoint (eventually), but the ethical issue would remain.

best,

Cam

2. Russ, retired professor from N. Mich. U.

Answer to your question: try to find the family and get them to sign the form; also offer them a vocal and transcript of the interview as grandchildren usually like to hear the voice of their grandparents and their ideas on tape. Otherwise, indicate some way in paper through a memo to put on file that you tried to contact the family and add the necessary detail for legal purposes. If all fails I would remove the name of the individual and list it as “anonymous.” This is a dilemma since you are holding fine memories that should not get lost. The other position that some institutions take is that the individual did the interview and by this act decided that his/her memories were valuable and gave the tape to the library. Your legal counsel could think this out. I seriously doubt that a judge in court is going to take a different position. But first try to find the family and get a signature.

Best,

Russell

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Gary Cocozzoli
_____________________

Gary R. Cocozzoli
Director of the Library
Lawrence Technological University
248-204-3000
gcocozzol@ltu.edu

(or) grc@ltu.edu

Visit the Library at http://library.ltu.edu

On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 11:27 AM Barbara Gordon via Michlib-l <michlib-l@mcls.org> wrote:

Hello,

I am looking for some expertise related to the use of oral history tapes and transcriptions in our library. A number of oral histories were recorded in the 1970s by the library. The cassettes contain interviews with local African American community members who had knowledge of and/or family history tied to our county's active Underground Railroad. Formal consent was not obtained during the making of these tapes. In the time since the tapes were made, a published index of participant names was made available to researchers. While I am not certain, I do believe researchers have been given access to these tapes as well. There is a renewed interest in this collection and the library has received requests for access to the tapes. It is my understanding that without signed consent forms, the library does not have copyright to these historical records. I would appreciate the opportunity to better understand what, if any, options we may have for making these invaluable resources available.

Thank you!

--
Barbara Gordon, MLS
Director

319 M-62
Cassopolis, MI 49031
269-357-7822 ext. 101
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