Pre 1820' Newspaper and book etchings

[stokie100]

Hi All,

I have a great interest in collecting original natural history prints (from books) and newspaper etchings printed pre-1850s.

Am I able to re-produce some of these for the purpose of re-selling as vintage style prints without being in breach of copyright? Wherever possible I would credit the original artists if specified in the original prints/books. I have an intention to hand colour some of the black and white etchings once reproduced but many of them are beautiful enough to sell without altering.

Many thanks

Sophie

[Nick Cooper]

There's no conceivable way in which anything published in or before 1850 would still be under copyright in the UK. For works that expired at the end of last year, their artists would have died during 1947. Someone who had work published in 1850 at the age of 20 would have been born around 1830, so would be unlikely to be still alive in 1947 (i.e. 117 years old), let alone after that date.

The exception would be unpublished works, which would be protected until the end of 2039, although by definition they would be outside your situation.