While it is not feasible, nor is it the intent of this work to address all of the legal questions that one might encounter in conducting genealogical research, a few points are worth considering. At some stage in your research you may need to know what rights you have or do not have to see certain records described in this volume. Who is and what records are protected by the Privacy Act? How might copyright laws restrict use of letters, diaries, and excerpts or other published works that might be used in family histories? The Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and copyright laws all affect our research in some way. A brief discussion of those laws follows, along with sources for learning more about them.