Copyright issue?

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madmardle

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Ken
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A local printer and stationer took a series of photographs of our town and turned them into postcards, this would have been in the 40s or possibly 50s. These images have been copied and used as calendars etc. for many years. Now they have started to be shown on the net and although the firm has been out of business for many years, a relative of the original owner is making noises about copyright. Is there a simple answer to this issue? I was always under the impression that copyright only existed until 50 years after the photographers death, but is it muddied by the fact that a company commissioned the photos? Apologies if this is the wrong forum.
 
Would it make any difference if the firm was a limited company?
 
Peter123 said:
Would it make any difference if the firm was a limited company?
Click to expand...

Only up to a point. As I understand it, that there is a distinction drawn between the author and owner of copyright. While first ownership may tied to the company, the law still refers to the period of 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies.

If the author is unknown, copyright will last for 70 years after the work was created, although if it is published during that time then the duration will be 70 years from the end of the year that the work was first made available

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/12
 
There's some confusion about rules with photos taken before 1989

National Archives guidance suggests it may be the owner of the negative for photographs taken before 1989, which may be the stationer

Copyright and related rights - The National Archives

Who owns copyright?

The first owner(s) of copyright will be:

  • the author - that is, the person who created the work and was responsible for its contents
  • the employer - if the work was produced by an employee in the course of employment. In this case, remember that duration is still normally dependent on the individual author’s life
  • the owner of the negative - in the case of a photograph taken between 1 July 1912 and 31 July 1989
Click to expand...

Either way you read it, it's unlikely the images are out of copyright.
 
Last edited:
Musicman said:
There's some confusion about rules with photos taken before 1989

National Archives guidance suggests it may be the owner of the negative for photographs taken before 1989, which may be the stationer

Copyright and related rights - The National Archives



Either way you read it, it's unlikely the images are out of copyright.
Click to expand...
And also unlikely that the relative of the photographer has any claim to ownership.
 
Phil V said:
And also unlikely that the relative of the photographer has any claim to ownership.
Click to expand...

Yes, if the printer/publisher took the photographs the copyright will belong to the company rather than an employee of the company. It may be different if they employed a freelance, though things were different pre-1989.

I remember a lot of fuss about orphan works a few years ago. This could be one of them.....

But it all sounds very muddy.
 
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