Photograph taken 1875. Printed in book published 1982.
I have tried very hard to find the owner of the photo, but neither I nor the publisher have had any luck. It may even no longer exist.
Can I copy it from the 1982 book, for use in my own?
Thank you.
Reproducing old photograph from (fairly) recent book
Re: Reproducing old photograph from (fairly) recent book
Hi KfK,
I would say that the original photograph is well and truly out of copyright, based on both the Fine Art Copyright Act of 1862 which was the applicable law when the photograph was taken, and by the terms of the 1911 Copyright Act which would probably have applied to it as the copyright in the photograph was probably still running when the latter Act came into force in 1912. At most, copyright in the photograph will have ended on 31 December 1925.
There is a very weak argument that whoever scanned the photograph in order to print it in the book may have a claim to a new copyright, but since this would have probably been done by the standard photo-lithographic process for creating half tone printing blocks, given the date of publication, I don't think any such claim would be accepted by a court. This is because the process lacks any human creativity which would be reflected in the image in the book as opposed to the original photograph. On that basis, in my opinion, you are free to use the image in the book despite the fact that the remainder of the book is still in copyright.
I would say that the original photograph is well and truly out of copyright, based on both the Fine Art Copyright Act of 1862 which was the applicable law when the photograph was taken, and by the terms of the 1911 Copyright Act which would probably have applied to it as the copyright in the photograph was probably still running when the latter Act came into force in 1912. At most, copyright in the photograph will have ended on 31 December 1925.
There is a very weak argument that whoever scanned the photograph in order to print it in the book may have a claim to a new copyright, but since this would have probably been done by the standard photo-lithographic process for creating half tone printing blocks, given the date of publication, I don't think any such claim would be accepted by a court. This is because the process lacks any human creativity which would be reflected in the image in the book as opposed to the original photograph. On that basis, in my opinion, you are free to use the image in the book despite the fact that the remainder of the book is still in 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: Reproducing old photograph from (fairly) recent book
Thank you AndyJ, that was the conclusion I had come to, but wanted to check that I hadn't missed anything.
In which case, the same should apply to nineteenth century photographs by Henry Taunt (died 1922) which have already been reprinted in recent books. Except that in this case we know who has the original (Oxfordshire Archives), and they charge fairly high reproduction fees. Am I safe to copy from a book or would they have grounds to complain that I hadn't copied the original (and paid them for it)?
In which case, the same should apply to nineteenth century photographs by Henry Taunt (died 1922) which have already been reprinted in recent books. Except that in this case we know who has the original (Oxfordshire Archives), and they charge fairly high reproduction fees. Am I safe to copy from a book or would they have grounds to complain that I hadn't copied the original (and paid them for it)?
Re: Reproducing old photograph from (fairly) recent book
Hi KfK,
If you can get a good enough quality scan from a book, there's nothing to stop you doing that. The Oxfordshire Archives can't insist on you going through them. They do not own the copyright because there is no copyright anymore (it ended 50 years after the the photograph was taken). All they can control is access to the original. In theory if you went to the archives and asked to see the photograph you could then legally photograph it yourself, although I suspect the Archives will have something in their Terms and Conditions* of entry which would prevent that. Most archives charge a fee if you want to use a camera.
* I couldn't find theTs & Cs on their website, but they will exist somewhere I'm sure.
If you can get a good enough quality scan from a book, there's nothing to stop you doing that. The Oxfordshire Archives can't insist on you going through them. They do not own the copyright because there is no copyright anymore (it ended 50 years after the the photograph was taken). All they can control is access to the original. In theory if you went to the archives and asked to see the photograph you could then legally photograph it yourself, although I suspect the Archives will have something in their Terms and Conditions* of entry which would prevent that. Most archives charge a fee if you want to use a camera.
* I couldn't find theTs & Cs on their website, but they will exist somewhere I'm sure.
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: Reproducing old photograph from (fairly) recent book
Ah OK, that is helpful. Thank you very much.