Old photographs

[steve wright]

I have a number of images, some with company names on others that are plain that were recovered from a skip when the building/business closed. Clearly these photographs were no longer required by the company that closed in around 2000

I have scanned these images and returned the originals to the finder who is OK with me posting on online forums. In the past i have water marked these images (Copyright image) to stop others selling copies on Ebay etc as I feel this is not what they were posted for
As a note these images range from 1905 to around 1990

any thoughts or direction appreciated

[AndyJ]

Hi Steve,
The photographs which date from 1945 onwards will still be in copyright, but it sounds as if they have been entirely abandoned, so I don't think you are likely to have the copyright owner come after you. However, if you are contacted by someone claiming to own the copyright, you should stop using your scans and be prepared to delete the scans if that is what the owner asks you to do. And, yes, it is a good idea to put a copyright notice on the more recent ones (ie post 1944) just in order that no-one else gets the impression that these images are in the public domain. And if you should be asked by anyone if it is OK to copy or otherwise publish these scans, remember that you do not have any authority to grant that permission, although you could tell them that they may do so at their own risk.

[steve wright]

Thanks very much AndyJ, advice much appreciated