Copyright & Reuse
The Reggie MacDonald Digital Archive was created to preserve Reggie’s writings, photographs, documents and story and to make that material available for people to read, learn from and research.
We want people to use the archive. At the same time, much of the material preserved here represents the work of Reggie, his family and other contributors, and some historical material may remain protected by copyright belonging to third parties.
The ability to view, print or download material from this website does not transfer copyright or automatically grant permission to republish or redistribute it.
Reggie’s Writings
Reggie’s writings are at the heart of this archive. They include personal stories, diaries, letters and other material written over many years.
You are welcome to quote reasonable portions of Reggie’s writing for personal, educational, research or commentary purposes where permitted by law. We ask that quotations be attributed to Reggie MacDonald and, where practical, identify the Reggie MacDonald Digital Archive (mereggie.com) as the source.
If you would like to reproduce a substantial portion of Reggie’s writing, republish an entire work, include his writing in a publication, documentary, website, exhibition or other project, please contact us first.
We are generally interested in supporting responsible uses of Reggie’s work, particularly educational, historical and research projects.
Photographs, Documents and Other Material
The archive contains photographs, documents, correspondence, newspaper material and other historical records collected from a variety of sources.
Copyright ownership can differ from physical ownership. A person who possesses an old photograph, newspaper clipping or document does not necessarily own the copyright in it.
For that reason, please do not assume that everything displayed in the archive is available for unrestricted reuse.
Where the archive or Reggie’s family controls the relevant rights, we may be able to grant permission for reproduction. Other material may require permission from a photographer, publisher, contributor or another copyright holder.
If you would like to reproduce something and are unsure of its status, please contact us.
Material Contributed to the Archive
We welcome photographs, memories, documents, corrections and other material from people who knew Reggie or have information connected with his life.
Submitting material to the archive does not transfer your copyright to us and does not automatically give us permission to publish it.
We also recognize that people sometimes possess historically valuable material without knowing who owns its copyright. If you are unsure about the copyright status of something you have, you are still welcome to tell us about it. Please provide whatever information you know about where the material came from.
We will consider the copyright and circumstances of contributed material before deciding whether and how it should be published.
Personal, Educational and Research Use
The purpose of this archive is to make Reggie’s story accessible, not to prevent people from learning from it.
Visitors are welcome to read the archive, link to its pages, and use material for personal study and research subject to applicable copyright law.
Teachers, students, researchers, families, addiction professionals, journalists and others who would like to make more substantial use of archive material are encouraged to contact us. We would rather discuss a legitimate use and, where possible, help with it than create unnecessary barriers to the material.
Permission from the archive cannot, however, grant rights that belong to someone else.
PDFs, Printing and Larger Collections
Some material in the archive may be available in printer-friendly or PDF format for personal reading, research and educational use.
Providing a PDF or print option does not transfer copyright or automatically grant permission to republish, redistribute or commercially use the material.
From time to time, we may also be able to provide larger compilations that are not offered as regular downloads on the website. For example, a researcher, educator or other interested reader may have a legitimate reason for requesting a collection such as Reggie’s complete jail diary rather than reading the individual entries online.
We intentionally limit the general distribution of large collections of material, but reasonable requests are welcome. Availability and permission will be considered individually, taking into account the material requested and its intended use.
If you would like to request a larger collection, please contact us and explain what you are interested in and how you intend to use it.
Commercial Use and Republishing
Please contact us before using substantial archive material in a book, film, documentary, commercial website, publication, exhibition, product or other commercial project.
Commercial use may require specific permission from the appropriate copyright holder.
Nothing on this website should be interpreted as granting a general licence to reproduce, republish, sell, redistribute or create substantial collections from material in the archive.
Linking to the Archive
You are welcome to link directly to pages and posts on mereggie.com.
In fact, where possible, we prefer linking to the original archive page rather than copying an entire article or document to another website. This helps readers see the material in its original context and allows them to benefit from corrections or additional information that may be added later.
Copyright Concerns
We make reasonable efforts to identify the source and copyright status of material published in the archive. Because this is a historical family archive containing material collected over many years, however, ownership or copyright information may occasionally be incomplete.
If you believe material published on this website infringes copyright that you own or control, please contact us. Identify the material, where it appears on the website, and your connection to the work.
We will review the matter and, where appropriate, restrict or remove the material while the issue is investigated.
Requesting Permission
If you would like permission to reproduce archive material, request a larger collection, report a copyright concern, or simply aren’t sure whether a particular use is appropriate, please Contact Us.
Please tell us what material you are interested in and how you would like to use it. We will consider reasonable requests individually.