Copyright

[SouthsideChaz]

I have a book on the Royal Scots written in 1925 by Major John Ewing. I got this from the library.

There is a picture i would like to use in the future. Would i need permission from the publishers or is this out of copyright.

 

Charlie

[Dust Jacket Collector]

I think it depends on whether the author died more than 70 years ago.

[SouthsideChaz]

Cheers

[David Filsell]

Copyright is damned complicated. There are complete books on the subject

 The author may not be the copyright holder of the photograph - ie if he is in the photograph. 

[John_Hartley]

I agree with David - copyright on a photo is held by the photographer, who may be different from the author (who may have obtained permission from the photographer to include it in the book).

 

 

Edited 24 December , 2016 by John_Hartley

[Guest]

   Copyright in the text is 70 years from death of author (or 70 years after first publication if posthumous). Pictures are different. If the pictures are the author's own photographs then,I think,the general view is the 70 years"published" applies. Usually,the owner of an original image owns the copyright-but publication by the author of it in a book effectively prevents the subsequent owner of the original from reclaiming copyright- the original owner/author has effectively licensed its continuing use by having it published and this effectively carries on to every subsequent owner of the image.

     Look for acknowledgements as to photograph sources in the book,usually either formally at the beginning or somewhere on the plate itself (eg If it says,eg "Elliott and Fry" in the corner,then the copyright would be with the commercial photographers  of that name, the picture was used under licence and the copyright rests with the photographers, or their commercial successors.

      If everything is unclear, - the author cannot be traced for direct heir, the publisher has long since gone-and the photograph carries no clue as to origin, then the best way forward is to use the image, acknowledge its source in your own work and apologise politely in advance for any unintended infringement

[healdav]

You will see that in the book "Railways of the Great War" that accompanied the Portillo series, photos are credited to a man in Troisvierges, Luxembourg. In fact, he is simply the man who has copies of the postcards that they were published on!

The postcard producer and photographer have long since disappeared, and have no known trace. The man who has the copies was completely baffled as to why the BBC insisted on having a "copyright holder" for something a century old, but insist they di, so his name went down for want of anything better! So far, as far as I know, no one has complained.

[Guest]

   Further to previous-  the 2 volumes appear to have been published for "The Association of Lowland Scots", which does not appear on Google. That association may have commissioned the work,so either the author's copyright prevails, or, the copyright in the work is vested in the Association- if that were the terms of the original deal.

     I think the Royal Scots Museum at Edinburgh Castle should be contacted. My understanding from all others is that they are invariably courteous, helpful and welcoming.

 

[Andy Wade]

Agreed. It mostly boils down to good manners and applying credit where credit is due. If you take every course of action open to you to identify the copyright owner of a picture or text and contact them, credit them and apply an explanatory note in your publication then you have done all you can. Much better to actually get written permission of course.
It's acceptable practice to reference all your sources anyway and apart from being good practice, it's good manners. But I suspect you knew this anyway.
In quite a lot of publications, old photographs may well be in there subject to the author having got permission from the copyright owner.

 

On the interweb though... I suspect a great deal of images seen on-line are not only being used without permission but they've been shamelessly nicked from other sources having been nicked from the original source in the first place. Rather complicated.

[Guest]

Healdav-  Merry Christmas- lets tease you first: You mean there is someone in Luxembourg who has an interest in anything other than Amazon's tax returns?

    Copyright for commercial publishersof images  is a nightmare- particularly postcards- I have started a thread on a local Great War photographer- one J.M.Flatan of Ilford. Several of his images are found easily elsewhere and some "original photograph" postcards come up on Ebay- each with his name and place number in the corner. Should I copy these images?  Well, one thing I do think is that the vendor on Ebay does not own the copyright-  it remains with the photographer and the postcard is unlikely to be a unique copy-thus, the copyright in the "original" will not apply,as the postcard vendor does not have the copyright (Basic English law- You cannot give better title than you have- The vendor has no title and cannot give it or restrict its use by claiming copyright)

     The usual importance of these arcanities is for wedding photographs- Always wise to get clarification from the commercial photographer engaged as to who own the copyright- and wise to insist that the photographer does not

 

[ss002d6252]

28 minutes ago, voltaire60 said:

   Further to previous-  the 2 volumes appear to have been published for "The Association of Lowland Scots", which does not appear on Google. That association may have commissioned the work,so either the author's copyright prevails, or, the copyright in the work is vested in the Association- if that were the terms of the original deal.

     I think the Royal Scots Museum at Edinburgh Castle should be contacted. My understanding from all others is that they are invariably courteous, helpful and welcoming.

 

The formed in the year to 31 May 1916 - their aim seems to have been representation of the 'Lowland' Scots as opposed to the (perceived ?) bias towards the 'Highland' Scots.
 

They stated an intention to publish a book each year, before Christmas, on the military history of the Lowland provinces.
 

The last newspaper mention I can see was 1938 where they were trying to 're-activate' the Association after a break of 9 years.

Craig

[David Filsell]

As I said "complicated'. Best of luck sorting it.

regards.

David

[healdav]

1 hour ago, voltaire60 said:

Healdav-  Merry Christmas- lets tease you first: You mean there is someone in Luxembourg who has an interest in anything other than Amazon's tax returns?

    Copyright for commercial publishersof images  is a nightmare- particularly postcards- I have started a thread on a local Great War photographer- one J.M.Flatan of Ilford. Several of his images are found easily elsewhere and some "original photograph" postcards come up on Ebay- each with his name and place number in the corner. Should I copy these images?  Well, one thing I do think is that the vendor on Ebay does not own the copyright-  it remains with the photographer and the postcard is unlikely to be a unique copy-thus, the copyright in the "original" will not apply,as the postcard vendor does not have the copyright (Basic English law- You cannot give better title than you have- The vendor has no title and cannot give it or restrict its use by claiming copyright)

     The usual importance of these arcanities is for wedding photographs- Always wise to get clarification from the commercial photographer engaged as to who own the copyright- and wise to insist that the photographer does not

 

 is wonderful here is the city has an enormous photo archive, and they sell copies of all the photos (a sort of A4 size). The price includes a charge for copyright. Whether they actually hold the copyright for some of the photos (especially those from the 1850s or 60s) I have no idea, but at leas the purchaser can publish wihtout danger of being sued! Everyone here has a big 'oof' when they can use these photos.

[SouthsideChaz]

Thanks for all the replys