Copyright = Mirrorpix
Copyright = Mirrorpix
A quick question: Can I use photos stating Mirror pix if Images were taken/ published in the 1940s? Even if Mirrorpix sell images dated in the 1940s, are they actually public domain because of age. ? The images in question are actually from findmypast.com . They are labelled" Images © Mirrorpix / Reach PLC," I access them via a paid-for subscription to Findmypast.com. Just want to post multiple images to facebook.
Re: Copyright = Mirrorpix
Hi stevedw,
Photographs taken in the UK before 1945 should now be out of copyright. However I suspect that Mirrorpix may be trying to claim some sort of new copyright from the date the image was digitized. Since it is not illegal to put a copyright notice on something even though you know there is no valid copyright which applies to it, you can see why many publishers who are keen to keep selling licences may do this. The Government's Intellectual Property Office has published an advisory Copyright Notice in which they state that in most cases, digitizing a pre-existing photograph lacks sufficient creativity to attract a new copyright. See the fifth section of this document. You may find that the conditions of your membership of FindMyPast require that you do not use any material you find there for commercial purposes. This would have nothing to do with copyright, and would be a matter of contract law. If you only require the image(s) for your personal research you should be covered by Section 29 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, irrespective of any claimed copyright.
Photographs taken in the UK before 1945 should now be out of copyright. However I suspect that Mirrorpix may be trying to claim some sort of new copyright from the date the image was digitized. Since it is not illegal to put a copyright notice on something even though you know there is no valid copyright which applies to it, you can see why many publishers who are keen to keep selling licences may do this. The Government's Intellectual Property Office has published an advisory Copyright Notice in which they state that in most cases, digitizing a pre-existing photograph lacks sufficient creativity to attract a new copyright. See the fifth section of this document. You may find that the conditions of your membership of FindMyPast require that you do not use any material you find there for commercial purposes. This would have nothing to do with copyright, and would be a matter of contract law. If you only require the image(s) for your personal research you should be covered by Section 29 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, irrespective of any claimed copyright.
Advice or comment provided here is not and does not purport to be legal advice as defined by s.12 of Legal Services Act 2007
Re: Copyright = Mirrorpix
Thank you - very informative