Copyright Aid

I collect postcards of youth hostels. While many do not identify the photographer, one name that does keep showing up is Derrick Boorne sometimes credited as D J Boorne. It's an uncommon name and the only person with that name I can find died in 1982 so if he is the copyright holder then there is no issue that the photos are still in copyright. His works have been published by various postcard companies including Photo Precision Ltd, YHA itself (although I suspect these were produced for YHA by an unidentified printer) as well as numerous unknown publishers, suggesting he was a freelancer rather than an employee. I'd like to reproduce some cards on my website. Is it best to assume they are all copyrighted? or is it possible they could be considered to be commissioned works and therefore the copyright is with the publisher?

Hi Fred, Good to hear from you again.

Yes I think it would be sensible to assume that in all cases copyright still applies, irrespective of the author, given that Youth Hostelling in the UK is only around 100 years old.

As for Derrick James Boorne himself, there is little doubt that he was associated with youth hostelling. According to an article in the Kentish Independent dated 26 March 1954 he had been awarded a leadership scholarship by the American YHA in 1953 during a stay in the USA from May to October, after which he led a party of American youth hostellers through England and parts of Western Europe.

Derrick J Boorne was born in South East London on 20 Aug 1923 to Wilfred Marshall and Olive Marion Boorne. For much of his early life he lived at the family home at 188 Greenvale Road, Eltham. After his father died in 1958, his mother moved to Jersey Avenue, Cheltenham (where she later died on 14 February 1991), and it seems likely that Derrick was living with his mother when he died in Cheltenham on 4 July 1982 aged 58. Therefore his photographs will remain in copyright until 1 January 2053. Derrick had a sister, Audrey Grace, born 1927, who did not marry and inherited the family home in Jersey Avenue, Cheltenham when her mother died. Audrey died on 14 April 1997 in Cheltenham.

Derrick left a will (you could obtain a copy for £16 if you were that keen), but I suspect he left everything to his mother and sister, including, quite possibly, the copyright in his photographs (by implication if not actually specified). Audrey left a will (details: Boorne, Audrey Grace died 14 April 1997 Probate 30 July 1997 No. 9751101190 London Registry), which may conceivably include something about Derrick's copyright, but I think it would be reasonable to assume that the photographs may have become orphan works.

However you should not discount the possibility that during his lifetime, Derrick sold the copyright in his youth hostel photography, either to a photo library, a publisher or the YHA itself. I doubt that the images were commissioned, and in any case the work for hire doctrine does not apply in the UK. He would have needed to have been a full time employee of the YHA for ownership of the copyright to have passed to them. As I say, I think it is possible that he transferred the copyright to a third party, either by contract during his lifetime, or in his will.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply. I don't think I'll go down the orphan images route - too expensive for what's just a hobby. I will, though, look through other YHA material for info on using photographs in their publications. I do recall seeing requests for suitable photos.

Thankfully I've got numerous cards with unknown photographers and/or unknown publishers that I can date to pre-1957 for them to be out of copyright.