Pre 1923 Public Domain Images

[jllinko]

I want to start a personal web site about the history of my small local county. It is my understanding the pre 1923 photos are public domain. But can I copy and use pre 1923 photos that appear on websites that sell these old photos without paying them? Or, I have a copy of The History of Knox County, published in 1881. But the copy I have is not an original, it is a 1974 reprint. Can I copy images from it? In other words, can I copy and freely use a modern copy (paper or digital) of a public domain photo?

Thanks, jllinko

[slash-5]

No, you cannot.

[jllinko]

Well, I've done a bit a research and found this.

http://englishhistory.net/tudor/art.html

It states that you can, if it is an exact copy of the original, unaltered.
The gray area to all of this is what is unaltered of which I am contining to research.

[Jerryb]

hi,

1923 doesn't say much... what do you base that on?
generally with old pictures it 70 years after the death of the owner.. butthe copyright can be renewed... so how do you know if the picture is in
publick domain yet!!

when in doubt you always ask the webmaster of the site of where the picture are taken from.....

now many sites have a copyright statement on the use of not just old pictures but any pictures.... and i would look for that and see under what
conditions you can use the pictures....

I am into geneology and always hit site with old pictures and the vast majority of them will allow copyrighted pictures to be copy and used as
long it for personal use but sellling or used in a business envirornment is prohibited unless you have permission ...

this is a typical statement
""
~ COPYRIGHT NOTICE ~
please remember that all photos on this site are copyrighted by their submitter
do not "contribute" the material (including lists and/or photos) located on this site to other websites
You may print or save this file to your computer for your personal use ONLY. Any other use of this material requires consent of the original contributor who retains copyright on their submitted material

THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORMAT FOR PROFIT OR PUBLICATION BY ANY ORGANIZATION OR PERSON

[0lBaldy]

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[jllinko]

I base it on this

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/195_copr.html

and many other sites I have seen, which state, all pre 1923 images are public domain, period. If I have the original, I can scan it, take a picture of it and do with it what I want, even resell it for profit.

The question is can I copy someone else's copy. The previous posted site says I can as long as it is an exact copy of the original with no serious alterations. But I'm no lawyer, so I could be full of it, thats why I'm here.

[Steve Conway]

Originally Posted by jllinko

I want to start a personal web site about the history of my small local county. It is my understanding the pre 1923 photos are public domain. But can I copy and use pre 1923 photos that appear on websites that sell these old photos without paying them? Or, I have a copy of The History of Knox County, published in 1881. But the copy I have is not an original, it is a 1974 reprint. Can I copy images from it? In other words, can I copy and freely use a modern copy (paper or digital) of a public domain photo?

Thanks, jllinko

There are two things that I would consider doing here....Contact the publishers of the 1974 copy of the history of the county and ask permission for use of the photos etc. They probably will be happy to give you permission if you mention your source. Or if your state has a historical photo archive you can use most anything you find there. But just to be safe, ask for permission here also.

Most people get in trouble when they use photos for commercial purposes without permission.

Steve C.