Reproducing old photographs from vintage books, to share on the Forum?

[Flying10uk]

Does anyone know where we stand with regards to reproducing photographs from old books that date to WW2 or the late 1940s, please? If it's an old book and there is no information inside prohibiting the reproduction of photographs, diagrams etc, is it acceptable to do so? I have a number of vintage books which are to do with both WW1 and WW2 which have interesting photographs in and I believe that fellow Forum members may find interesting. Obviously reproducing the photographs wouldn't be a venture to make money but simply to share the images with fellow forum members, here on-line, for military history interests.

Do published photographs have indefinite copyright protection even if no mention is made within the publication prohibiting reproduction? Or are published photographs only copyright protected for a set number of years, after which they can be reproduced? I would guess that most of the photographs involved were taken either by official crown/service photographers or press photographers.

Thanks for any information.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Bob Womack]

HERE is a ink the U.S. copyright law. Under that law, the answer is "it depends," meaning that it depends upon whether or not the copyright was renewed after the initial twenty-eight years. You probably won't find that information in the book.

Bob

[painter777]

I watched a u tube video the other day made by the Navy about the Korean war. Soon in to it I seen they were saluting with their left hands (?)
Later I noticed big mail bags that the writing was backward on. After reading the comments I seen complaints about these things. Films copied in reverse (flip flopped). It was stated that this was a way around copy rights. I don't know...... but others that left comments seemed to agree.
I'd say if not for profit, show away. Whats the odds of finding someone named Flying10UK in the real world.

Just my uninformed opinion,
CH-P777

[muffett.2008]

Most pic's would have been covered by copywrite at one time, take the pic's on the AWM site.
When you open the pic. it will say "COPYWRITE PROTECTED" or "COPYWRITE EXPIRED"

[Badger]

In Canada ...

As per the Copyright Act, copyright in a work exists for the life of the author/creator, the remainder of the calendar year in which he is deceased, plus fifty years after the end of that calendar year.

For Crown copyrighted works, there is a slight difference. Section 12 of the Copyright Act stipulates:

“12. Without prejudice to any rights or privileges of the Crown, where any work is, or has been, prepared or published by or under the direction or control of Her Majesty or any government department, the copyright in the work shall, subject to any agreement with the author, belong to Her Majesty and in that case shall continue for the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the work and for a period of fifty years following the end of that calendar year. [S.C. 1993, c. 44, s. 60(1)]”

Regards,
Doug

[henry r]

Australian copyrights as described by the national archives:

Determining if a work is still in copyright


Where the Crown owns copyright

Published literary, dramatic or musical works (includes published official records) 50 years after the end of the year in which the work is first published
Unpublished literary, dramatic, musical works Copyright subsists indefinitely
Artistic works 50 years from the end of the year when made
Photographs taken before 1 May 1969 50 years from the end of the year when made
Photographs taken after 1 May 1969 50 years from end of year of first publication

Where the Crown does not own copyright

Literary, dramatic or musical works published before the author's death 70 years after the end of the year in which the author dies
Literary, dramatic or musical works not published or performed during the author's lifetime 70 years after the end of the year in which first published or performed
Unpublished literary, dramatic or musical works Copyright subsists indefinitely
Artistic works 70 years after the end of the year of artist's death
Photographs taken before 1 January 1955 Copyright expired
Photographs taken after 1 January 1955 70 years from the end of year when first published
Photographs first published anonymously or under a pseudonym (and taken after 1 January 1955) 70 years from the end of the year in which the photograph was first published
Television and sound broadcasts 50 years from the making of the broadcast

taken from: Copyright - Fact sheet 8 – National Archives of Australia

I think it is good form to reference/credit where an image came from even when the copyright has expired (plus it makes it easier for others to find/use the images)

[Flying10uk]

Thanks for the information chaps. What made me think of the question was that I purchased a vintage book from a local charity shop containing many fantastic photographs of U.K. forces during WW2 as well as the home front and U.K. armament factories etc. Examples of the photos include a Sterling bomber factory production line, the Home Guard training for an expected invasion and pictures of Britain's Air and Naval forces. It seems a shame not to share the images. I will investigate a little further on U.K. specific copyright regs.