This page provides information about copyright, permissions, and reuse as related to the content in Historic Oregon Newspapers.

Copyright

The copyright status of the content in Historic Oregon Newspapers varies and falls into three categories:

• Public domain — Newspapers published 95 years ago or before are automatically in the public domain and are free of copyright restrictions. As of January 1, 2025, public domain applies to newspapers published in 1929 and earlier. Content in the public domain may be re-used in any way, although we appreciate a credit/attribution for Historic Oregon Newspapers.
• Out of copyright — Newspapers that may have been registered for copyright but not renewed, never registered at all, or did not print a copyright notice (©) on the paper (see below).
• In copyright — These newspapers are covered by copyright but publishers have granted the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program permission to digitize and host their content online. Some of these newspapers also have a Creative Commons license that specifies what kinds of reuse are allowed.

Any content on the Historic Oregon Newspapers website that was published after Dec. 31, 1929, may not be used for commercial purposes.

Copyright Status Research

Newspapers published January 1, 1930-March 30, 1989 may be covered by copyright. ODNP staff conducts copyright research on titles to determine if a newspaper was registered for copyright, if the copyright was renewed, and if a copyright notice (©) appears on the publication itself. If a newspaper is still protected by copyright, ODNP obtains permission from the rights holder before digitizing and adding the title to Historic Oregon Newspapers.

ODNP staff uses the guidelines provided by Cornell University Copyright Services, summarized below:

ODNP staff reviews newspaper issues for a published copyright notice (©) in five-year increments, saving pdf copies of the issues as documentation. We use the following resources for copyright research:

• Historic Copyright Registrations (pre-1928): https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/historic.html  
• Copyright Registrations and Renewal Records: https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/index.html  
• Original and renewal copyrights 1928-1949: https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/to1949.html  
• First Copyright Renewals for Periodicals: https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/firstperiod.html 
• Catalogs of Copyright Entries: https://archive.org/details/copyrightrecords  
• Copyright Registrations 1978-present : https://cocatalog.loc.gov/  

Reuse & Permissions

For items in the public domain, no permission is necessary for reuse and you may do whatever you like with the content. We do appreciate a credit for Historic Oregon Newspapers.

For items covered by copyright, first check to see if the newspaper title has a Creative Commons license. The CC license will guide what kind of permission you need to obtain and what kind of uses are allowed. ODNP staff can help put you in touch with rights holders.

The University of Oregon Libraries is not the owner of any intellectual property which may be presented in Historic Oregon Newspapers. Unless an item is in the public domain (published 1929 or before), ODNP can grant neither rights nor permissions regarding use of the newspapers or their contents. It is up to individual researchers to assess copyright and appropriateness of use, and to ensure that materials are properly credited; however, ODNP staff may be able to help, so please contact us.

Fair Use is a provision of U.S. copyright law that allows for reuse of content in Historic Oregon Newspapers for educational and research purposes. Check out our K-12 curriculum resources for examples!

Still have questions? Contact us.