Re-posting Historical photographs already publicly posted online

[historynnut]

Made mistake, please see post below (New York State)

 

[historynnut]

Let's say that I'm browsing the web and come across a 100 year old photograph or postcard of the towns old Railroad depot or church that someone has scanned and publicly posted on the web for everyone to see and save to their computer. The photograph has no noticeable copyrights, trademarks, or watermarks. Being a history buff I save the photograph to my computer and then re-post it on Flickr, Facebook, or any other image hosting site, not for any profit, but only to share with other friends and history fans. Is it legal to re-post/share these historical photos under the "Fair Use Doctrine" as long as I'm not making any kind of profit? If so, what laws prevent me from re-posting historical photographs that are very old and have been scanned and publicly posted online for the world to see?

Thanks-Historynnut

 

[quincy]

Let's say that I'm browsing the web and come across a 100 year old photograph or postcard of the towns old Railroad depot or church that someone has scanned and publicly posted on the web for everyone to see and save to their computer. The photograph has no noticeable copyrights, trademarks, or watermarks. Being a history buff I save the photograph to my computer and then re-post it on Flickr, Facebook, or any other image hosting site, not for any profit, but only to share with other friends and history fans. Is it legal to re-post/share these historical photos under the "Fair Use Doctrine" as long as I'm not making any kind of profit? If so, what laws prevent me from re-posting historical photographs that are very old and have been scanned and publicly posted online for the world to see?

Thanks-Historynnut

In what U.S. state do you reside?

 

[Silverplum]

In what U.S. state do you reside?

Due to the powers vested in me, I can see that was a question ol' historynnut did not wish to answer.

 

[historynnut]

New York State

 

[Silverplum]

Whoa!

Good thing I wasn't using my powers for something like flying!!



Quick q, historynnut: are there any copyrights anywhere on the website/s from which you are taking photographs?

 

[quincy]

Information can be found on U.S. public domain materials (the use of which would be "fair") at the following sites:

From Cornell: http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

From the Library of Congress researchers: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/195_copr.html


Thanks for providing your state name.

 

[historynnut]

Thanks for the quick response and info on publishing copyrighted material.

I don't want to have anything published and no profit will be made. I just want to know if it is legal to save a historical photograph or postcard that someone else has scanned and posted online for the general public to see and re-post that same image on an image hosting site such as Flickr, Facebook etc.

No, no Copyrights listed on photos or source of photos

 

[quincy]

Thanks for the quick response and info on publishing copyrighted material.

I don't want to have anything published and no profit will be made. I just want to know if it is legal to save a historical photograph or postcard that someone else has scanned and posted online for the general public to see and re-post that same image on an image hosting site such as Flickr, Facebook etc.

No, no Copyrights listed on photos or source of photos

It is legal to use public domain materials.

If you read through the links I provided, you can find out if what you wish to scan and use is okay to scan and use. The Library of Congress site has information on historic photos that are in the public domain.

You just have to be careful not to scan any material on a web page that is protected by copyright, like text that may go along with the old photos. And some photos may be colorized or otherwise doctored and this coloring or doctoring can add copyrightable aspects to the old photo, even when the original black and white photos are no longer protected by copyrights. And, if the web page itself says "copyrighted, all rights reserved" (or something similar) then I would avoid taking material from that site unless you get permission from the web host first.

It will take some work and investigation on your part to determine what is safe to use and what is not.

Good luck.

 

[historynnut]

It is legal to use public domain materials.

If you read through the links I provided, you can find out if what you wish to scan and use is okay to scan and use. The Library of Congress site has information on historic photos that are in the public domain.

You just have to be careful not to scan any material on a web page that is protected by copyright, like text that may go along with the old photos. And some photos may be colorized or otherwise doctored and this coloring or doctoring can add copyrightable aspects to the old photo, even when the original black and white photos are no longer protected by copyrights. And, if the web page itself says "copyrighted, all rights reserved" (or something similar) then I would avoid taking material from that site unless you get permission from the web host first.

It will take some work and investigation on your part to determine what is safe to use and what is not.

Good luck.

Thank you all very much for the information. I just have one more question. Let's say I go to a garage sale and purchase an old photograph/postcard that is one of a kind and the date is unknown. I then scan the photograph and post it all over the net without any indications of it being copyrighted. Does this mean that the photo is copyrighted for no other reason beside the fact that I own it, or can others use it (non-profit) without needing my permission because it is now public domain? Thanks again historynnut

 

[tranquility]

Thank you all very much for the information. I just have one more question. Let's say I go to a garage sale and purchase an old photograph/postcard that is one of a kind and the date is unknown. I then scan the photograph and post it all over the net without any indications of it being copyrighted. Does this mean that the photo is copyrighted for no other reason beside the fact that I own it, or can others use it (non-profit) without needing my permission because it is now public domain? Thanks again historynnut

You would not own a copyright to the photo because you bought a postcard. You would own the postcard. If you posted it over the internet from a scan, you could not generate your own copyright on the photo if it were in the public domain as there is nothing original in such a scan and, if the photo were not in the public domain, you could very well have violated the copyright on it.

 

[justalayman]

Thanks for the quick response and info on publishing copyrighted material.

I don't want to have anything published and no profit will be made. I just want to know if it is legal to save a historical photograph or postcard that someone else has scanned and posted online for the general public to see and re-post that same image on an image hosting site such as Flickr, Facebook etc.

No, no Copyrights listed on photos or source of photos

I kind of glazed over the responses and did't catch this being addressed so;


the lack of profit is not a determining factor of copyright violation and by re-posting the image, you are in fact publishing it.



another point I did not see addressed:


are you speaking of post cards of the same era as the actual picture or a more recent post card or photograph of an old building. While any copyrights concerning a 100 year old picture are expired, if the post card or picture is a recent picture, there may be copyrights applicable to that picture. If I take a picture of a 100 year old post card that has a picture of a building, the image on the post card has no copyright protections but my picture of that post card may. There are issues that can flip that one way or the other.

 

[quincy]

Thank you all very much for the information. I just have one more question. Let's say I go to a garage sale and purchase an old photograph/postcard that is one of a kind and the date is unknown. I then scan the photograph and post it all over the net without any indications of it being copyrighted. Does this mean that the photo is copyrighted for no other reason beside the fact that I own it, or can others use it (non-profit) without needing my permission because it is now public domain? Thanks again historynnut

It is up to you to determine the age of any photo you find at a garage sale, if you intend to reproduce it or distribute it or display it. If it is not in the public domain, then you could be infringing on the rights of the copyright holder otherwise.

When you purchase a work that you know is still protected under the copyright laws, you own that one single work only. You can resell that work or give it away or throw it away or display it in your home for your personal enjoyment. You are just not allowed to exercise any of the rights that belong to the copyright holder, without the risk of an infringement notice or lawsuit.

When a work is in the public domain, however, the copyrights in the original work no longer exist. Anyone at all can use the public domain work in any way they wish. But, you must make sure that you are using the original work that is in the public domain and not someone's copyrighted version of the work.

Please read the links I provided earlier. The information provided there might be able to clear up any confusion you have (and copyright law is definitely confusing).

Good luck.