Copyright for ancestral photos

[qvarizona]

What is the name of your state? ARIZONA

Greetings from Arizona,

What can you tell me about a situation where one cousin finds a box of old ancestral photos of people and houses from the 1800s and includes them in a report on his web page? I understand that his report --at least that part of it that is original-- is protected by copyright, but since he did not originate the old family photos or attain them through a will or other gift, can he claim copyrights to them? Would it make a difference if the person who found the photos and used them online was not related in any way to those in the photos or to the photographer who took them?


Joanne

[Shay-Pari'e]

You just said it was a cousin. Either or, NO they do not need a copyright for old pictures.

They are dead and the guy who took the photo's are dead.

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by Shay-Pari'e

You just said it was a cousin. Either or, NO they do not need a copyright for old pictures.

They are dead and the guy who took the photo's are dead.

I think you misunderstood the question. The way I read the question is this: Can the person who posted the photos claim copyright protection on the photos themselves once they were posted as a part of a copyrighted website?

[qvarizona]

Arizona
Yes, you're right. My question is can the "cousin" or anyone else claim copyrights to ancestral photos?

[divgradcurl]

Originally Posted by Zigner

I think you misunderstood the question. The way I read the question is this: Can the person who posted the photos claim copyright protection on the photos themselves once they were posted as a part of a copyrighted website?

No. Once the original copyright, if any, expired, that's it.