• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Creating Digital Photo Albums

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

T

Tyee99

Guest
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Washington.
My Dad collected ship photographs, and organized them
into albums. Each album is dedicated to a type of vessel or by
shipping company. For example, The Blue Star Line, has a photo of
every ship that company owned. My Dad annotated each photo with the vital statistics of each vessel, name, date launched, horsepower and so forth.

I have discovered I can fetch $50 to $75 for the few I have "tested"
on eBay. But then it occurred to me, why sell one album for $50, when
I can create a Virtual Album on a CDROM, and sell it for $29.95 times
whatever! And make some money for my efforts. So far so good, yes?

Now to the nut of the problem. The VAST MAJORITY of photos has only
the name of the vessel, and perhaps date of photo on the back. That's it. Some have "Reproduce only with credit to ......", some have the
photographers "Name and Address" stamped on the back, and some are copyrighted.

How does the status of each photo affect my plan to create for sale
to the public at large, the digitized version of my Dad's albums? One thought I had was to simply avoid the copyrighted photos, and digitize the rest. Robert
 


divgradcurl

Senior Member
Some have "Reproduce only with credit to ......",
It's probably okay to reproduce these pictures, as long as proper credit is given. The copyright holder has effectively licensed the reproduction of the photo.

some have the photographers "Name and Address" stamped on the back, and some are copyrighted.
Obviously, the pictures with a copyright notice are covered by copyright, and cannot be reproduced without permission. If the copyright is expired, then you can reproduce the picture. If the photo was taken before Jan 1, 1923, it is automatically in the public domain. If the photo was taken after that time, you'll have to do some research to find out if it is still covered by copyright.

The VAST MAJORITY of photos has only the name of the vessel, and perhaps date of photo on the back. That's it.
Just because it doesn't say copyrighted doesn't mean it isn't copyrighted -- it will depend on when the photograph was first "published." If the picture was taken after 1989, then it is certainly covered by copyright; if the picture was originally taken in a foreign country after 1978, then it is covered by copyright. Otherwise, it may be inthe public domain. You'll have to do some research to find out -- the general rule is that if a photo is published in the U.S. prior to 1989 without a copyright notice on it, thenit is public domain and free to reproduce -- but you'll need to check. Publication date and the date the photo was taken do not necessarily coincide.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top