After visiting Pornichet we were in Brest participating the meeting of European Association of Inedits. I gave my presentations on two subjects, Children as amateur filmmakers and Searching for a 9.5mm family, so - about this project, which provoked interested thoughts when it comes to copyrights. We would have needed more time to discuss this subject! However, the question of copyrights will come up for discussion at the AEI meeting in Hilversum, the Netherlands in October 2007.
There is a paradox as far as copyrights are concerned. Is it allowed to present for example this kind of material publicly in internet? You have two possibilities: if you want to find the right owners of the films, you have to show the pictures of the persons and the places publicly or you can leave the films to your cupboard.
It has happened to me and it happens sometimes for genealogists that they are "too late". Perhaps you have waited too long and the person who would know something has passed away some years ago. You have to make your research now. There are thousands of old anonymous photo portraits. They seem to be of no value, because their value is tied to the information "around the photo". That's why you can find such old photos from second-hand shops. Time is not for genealogists. If you could find out the person in the picture it may have some value for somebody.
We donated the films to Cinémathèque de Bretagne. It doesn't mean that our search ends now. On the contrary, now we have better possibilities to find the family.
In front of an ancient fortress in Pornichet.
