Old photographs and copyright

Notts_Dave

Notts_Dave

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I've been down the local historical society looking at old photos of my home town hoping to find a shot of my road taken in the 1900's. I got to thinking about copyright. I think i'm right in thinking that copyright expires 75 years after the death of the creator. So a shot taken in 1900 should be outside of that 75 years. so this begs 2 questions

Can you buy a copyright and how long does that last?

What happens to copyright after the 75 years.

If i'm right then my logic would say the Mona Lisa is no longer copyrighted. I'm probably wrong on that but you see my point. :thinking:

Please correct my ignorence.
 
I don't think the Mona Lisa is copyrighted (painted before copyright laws came into effect and even if not as it was not created in the UK different laws might apply) This would be why there are so many variations of it but I would think that each of those cards, photographs that are reproductions or likenes etc of the original are still under copyright so if you wished to print it you would need to photograph the original ?

Some people pass copyright onto others in their wills or sell them to an agency. Then that agency could be sold or absorbed into another and so on.

Many books and cards are out of copyright which is why people are able to copy them and sell the resulting photographs.

It is a complicated subject and if you are interested in the copyright of a particular image (when you find it) you should contact the family of the deceased creator.

BTW a picture taken in 1900 - the photographer might have been in his twenties and died in his 90's (1970's) and thus the image would still be under copyright - although ........... some images before the 1970's are not covered. It would take some research on the particular image you are interested in I would think to answer your question.
 
Notts_Dave said:
If i'm right then my logic would say the Mona Lisa is no longer copyrighted. I'm probably wrong on that but you see my point. :thinking:
Click to expand...

Its not, hence why there have been prints and/or ba$tardizations of it. (eg the spliff smoking lisa).

after copyright is up, nothing happens to the copyrights, anyone is free to reproduce and/or copy the work.
 
It certainly is a complicated subject and with the developments in imaging technology over the last 50 years is becoming more so.

Looking at the photos in the 1900's a camera was a rare thing, nowadays people take hundreds of shots a year. I just wonder what will happen of the coming decades when people are looking back at them. How could the current copyright laws be developed?
 
Kerioak said:
Some people pass copyright onto others in their wills or sell them to an agency. Then that agency could be sold or absorbed into another and so on.
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure on this but I didnt think it was possible to extend the length of time a work is copyrighted for, even if you pass the rights on to someone else.
 
I am pretty sure that copyright can outlast 75 years. I used to work at a library with hundreds of photographs from the 1800s and early 1900s and unless ownership by an individual or organisation was stated, permission to reproduce was strictly at the discression of the librarian. This usually meant that it was fair game if it's for personal use but there may be a charge if it was to be used commercially. You should ask the current owner of the images what the score is with the copyright and rights to reproduce.
 
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