> I wonder if you could help me. > > I have a book on inter-library loan. It is a out of print book and > contains pictures of my family from the late 1700's to early 1800's. > > Can I legally scan these pictures and keep for my own use? > > Can I legally email them to several of my family members that also have > and interest? If the book was published before 1923 then its copyright protection has expired, and so has the copyright on the art. Even if the book is more recent, the copyright only protects whatever content was originally written or created by the author. He does not hold the copyright to the old paintings unless he painted them. It is possible that the paintings, even though they are very old, may still be protected by a copyright belonging to the original painter or painters. This is because there are some funny rules regarding works created a long time ago but not published until recently, and I don't know if these rules apply in this case. It depends on the date of first publication (which is not necessarily this particular book) and other things, and I don't have time to look it up. In any case, the painter is long dead, and the copyright, if it exists, would be divided up among his currently living heirs. So the images are most likely out of copyright (public domain) and you can do whatever you want with them. There is a tiny chance they might still be protected by a copyright held by the painter's heirs, which, from a practical standpoint, is unenforceable. -- Tom Thatcher [email protected] <http://members.rpa.net/~thatcher/> <http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=thatcher-th>

I am not a legal expert, but I would think that if you were just sharing them with family members there would be no problem. If you include them in a book, it wouldn't hurt to try to get permission. At the very least, I would cite the source. Does the book give a source? Margaret Thatcher family wrote: > > > I wonder if you could help me. > > > > I have a book on inter-library loan. It is a out of print book and > > contains pictures of my family from the late 1700's to early 1800's. > > > > Can I legally scan these pictures and keep for my own use? > > > > Can I legally email them to several of my family members that also have > > and interest? > > If the book was published before 1923 then its copyright protection has > expired, and so has the copyright on the art. > > Even if the book is more recent, the copyright only protects whatever > content was originally written or created by the author. He does not hold > the copyright to the old paintings unless he painted them. > > It is possible that the paintings, even though they are very old, may still > be protected by a copyright belonging to the original painter or painters. > This is because there are some funny rules regarding works created a long > time ago but not published until recently, and I don't know if these rules > apply in this case. It depends on the date of first publication (which is > not necessarily this particular book) and other things, and I don't have > time to look it up. In any case, the painter is long dead, and the > copyright, if it exists, would be divided up among his currently living > heirs. > > So the images are most likely out of copyright (public domain) and you can > do whatever you want with them. There is a tiny chance they might still be > protected by a copyright held by the painter's heirs, which, from a > practical standpoint, is unenforceable. > > -- > Tom Thatcher > [email protected] > <http://members.rpa.net/~thatcher/> > <http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=thatcher-th> > > ==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== > Searchable archives at > http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=copyright > > ============================== > Shop Ancestry - Everything you need to Discover, Preserve & Celebrate > your heritage! > http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog