Glenn Yeager wrote: > Dear Claire: > What's Your point ? Birth , Marriage and Deaths are public domain or it > would not be allowed to appear in a newspaper ! The facts (name, date, location) of a BMD are PD under US law. The newspaper notice could be copyrighted; in certain circumstances (including under non-US law), the BMD certificate can be copyrighted. Using a persons photograph > is limited , I can tate a photo of any public figure "President Bush" and > sell as many copies as I care to , Now you're raising issues of privacy and publicity, which in many cases would prohibit exactly what you're suggesting -- but that's state law, so it varies by state, so you'd have to look into the individual state law at the time of the photograph. Usual practice would be to get a release from the photo's subject, esp. before the wide distribution you mention. Else you may find yourself sued. but taking a photo of You and saying > photo thaken by Me ! of Claire and using it as an advertisment of My work > without Your permission would show You endorse My photography work !That is > illeagle ! False endorsement is indeed illegal. Using my photo in a commercial sense (on a brochure, say) also raises issues of privacy and publicity, as above. Other state law issues also may arise. You must wait for 50 years after the death of a person taking a > photograph to copy it legaly into a book with out that persons permission , The current term of copyright is life+70 years, not life+50. What you are describing is a copyright issue (the photographer's right), not a privacy/publicity issue (the subject's right). Both may, however, be implicated. > For instance My father took a photo of His Grand-mother or My Great > Grand-mother , I can not publish that photo until the 21 Aug. 2049. As Joan said, your father would have had the copyright in the photo. If he died, his copyrights would have passed, as with all his other property, real, personal, and intellectual, as part of his estate. His heir is now the copyright owner and (if that's not you) can grant you permission to use the photo. Claire K.