Free Access to Ancestry.com et al. -- The Official Statement

The details of the agreements, as far as they affect members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made between FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com and findmypast.com have been openly explained, as far as they go, in a blog post from FamilySearch. I will be making some additional comments about this situation in the very near future. I suggest that if you read this, you send this post to as many of the leaders and members, especially directors of FamilySearch Centers you know or can to make this known.

Here is what has been said so far:

On February 4, 2014, FamilySearch distributed an infographic that illustrates our commitment to working collaboratively with select commercial family history companies and the family history community at large to put the world’s historical records online in one generation. This is a noble task that cannot be accomplished without the help of industry leaders such as Ancestry.com, Archives.com, findmypast, Fold3 and MyHeritage. We are excited for what these long-term agreements will mean to millions of people worldwide who are looking to discover their ancestors and share their family memories. Access to commercial family history websites in addition to FamilySearch.org has been available for many years at more than 4,700 FamilySearch-owned family history center libraries and centers worldwide. Ancestry.com and findmypast will continue to offer free access to all patrons of these centers. MyHeritage will also offer free access to their site sometime in late 2014. FamilySearch is pleased that these companies allow patrons access to unprecedented records collections and research tools at no cost. In addition to free access for all patrons at FamilySearch-owned family history centers and libraries, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will also receive free access to Ancestry.com, findmypast.com, and MyHeritage.com. Starting in mid-2014, members will begin receiving individual invitations by email to create free personal accounts on any and all of these sites. Those who have existing paid subscriptions with any of these companies will be given the option to convert their accounts to a free version when they receive their email invitation. Additional communications concerning broader access to these sites for all LDS members will be made as needed. By working collaboratively, we hope to empower people globally to share their family memories and save them for future generations. We are happy to continue to further our relationship with these key industry players and provide access to more records and innovative technologies for the genealogical community at large. I should note that Archives.com and Fold3.com are owned by Ancestry.com.  The details of how this all works will undoubtedly be forthcoming. Please do not call or contact FamilySearch or any of the other entities about the details. They will not answer questions at this time. Wait until the information is released in due time.