When an old, pre 1923 picture is posted on the Internet, is this picture under copyright since the person who posted it recently took or scanned a picture of the original picture. What I am asking is if an old picture is posted on the net, can someone else copy it and then legally make more copies of it to sell or give away. Mary Ann
There are really multiple issues here. First - If one takes a photo of an old photo or scans the old photo, there is no originality involved and originality is required for copyright. Therefore, there is no new copyright. Second - Old photos may not be in the public domain even if they were created before the threshold year of 1923. If they were created before January 1, 1978 and never PUBLISHED, they are protected by copyright until at least the end of next year. If they are published by the legitimate copyright holder before the copyright expires, the copyright is extended to at least the end of 2047. On Jan. 1, 2003, all published works by authors (photographer, sculptors, etc.) who died during 1932 or earlier will enter the public domain. In 2004, the works of those who died in 1934 will go into public domain and so on. Third - The nature of historical material of any type means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine. If the use of the photographs is limited and is unlikely to result in loss of revenue to the owner of the copyright, then use of the photos is likely "fair use." Mike http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/copyright/copyright.htm At 12:58 PM 4/29/01 -0500, maryann wrote: >When an old, pre 1923 picture is posted on the Internet, is this >picture under copyright since the person who posted it recently took >or scanned a picture of the original picture. > >What I am asking is if an old picture is posted on the net, can >someone else copy it and then legally make more copies of it to sell >or give away. > >Mary Ann > > > > >==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== >Support RootsWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html > >============================== >Shop Ancestry - Everything you need to Discover, Preserve & Celebrate >your heritage! >http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog