Bill: You're asking about a very complicated subject. I AM NOT a lawyer, but my opinion and understanding is as follows. Before the 1976 revision a copyright was for 28 years, but to be copyrighted it had to show it was copyrighted, at least with a copyright mark. Copyright could be renewed for an additional 28 years, but I doubt any photographer would go through the expense of renewing copyright on their whole collection. So, I think that any photo done before about 1948 would probably be safe to use. One caveat, if the photo was printed in a book or magazine, then there is a possibility that copyright may have been renewed. Hope this helps. Larry On 5/9/2011 9:07 PM, c. william johnson jr wrote: > I joined ancestry.com and I was wanting to upload some photographs some of them were professionally done; some back in the 1920s and before; some in the 40s, 50s and 60s etc.. > > What is the rule for how old a photograph can be before you can consider it would be in public domain? How about those Photography studios that are no longer in business? > > I have a picture of my father-in-law in military uniform from WWII, a professional picture. Is that prohibited from sharing because of copyright? > > I couldn't find any info on when the photo becomes public domain. > > Bill Johnson > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > Visit our Allegheny County, PA Website: http://www.rootsweb.com/~paallegh/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PAALLEGH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- My genealogy page http://twothompsongenealogies.com/ Allegheny County Maps page http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lt0168/maps/