How does one know if an image is public domain?

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Thanks. I better learn how to draw. Haw haw!

Drawing is definitely a skill worth acquiring! However, you may be able to find workable images for your book at a stock photography site. Istockphoto.com brought up a number of vintage photographs when I searched for 'WWII'. Its less expensive copycat, Canstockphoto.com, doesn't appear to have vintage photos, but there are a number of images that could probably be photoshopped into appearing aged.

[DarkScribe]

I have read of instances where even the pose used in an image has been successfully copyrighted. In such a case if you were to photograph your wife in the same pose as a high profile photographer had posed a model (and distribute the resulting image) you can risk a lawsuit. Scary. The Eiffel tower is the best known - to me - copyrighted landmark. You can photograph it but you can't sell the image. When we were last there we saw warnings to that effect affixed to every flat surface - or so it seemed.

[djulian]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Creative Commons works are not in the public domain.

This is a critical point for people to understand--it's too easy to assume that they are free for use, but they almost always restrict the usage in some way, and always (unless I'm forgetting some rare instance) require attribution.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Lets presume its an old image dating back to WW2, it's well-known and many versions exist on the net on many sites.

IIRC, Nara (archives.gov) has many WW2 images that may be used freely. They may request a credit line in the credits of the book, I can't recall, but it may be worth looking into.

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Photos you take yourself are *usually* yours but with some exceptions; some buildings are copyrighted and/or trademarked.

English Heritage Organization Claiming It Holds Effective Copyright On Any And All Photos Of Stonehenge


-drjenkins

[DrNefario]

As I understand it, in the US, a photograph of a public domain work is itself public domain. That doesn't seem to be the case in the UK, although I think the real legal status is pretty hazy.

The National Gallery makes money selling images of its out-of-copyright paintings. On the one hand, that seems bad, but on the other hand, I'd rather not be paying the whole cost of the Gallery with my taxes. (And they do have to pay for the very impressive scanning technology somehow.)

[Elfwreck]

In the US, photographs taken before 1963 and not registered and renewed, are now in the public domain. This includes the vast majority of amateur photography (maybe "all amateur photography," since registering w/the copyright office is a pretty clear mark of professional work), and most pictures published in newspapers and magazines.

Photos taken as late as 1980 are probably in the public domain *if* no proper copyright notice was ever attached to them. (I'm not sure how copyright notices get attached to photos. On the back? On the envelope? Unclear how that info would show up online--however, if you find pictures in a photo album and there's no copyright notice, those are PD.)

Photographs (and other works) created by gov't agencies are public domain. There's a weird line between "created by the government" (PD) and "created by a contractor hired by the government" (not always PD), but a bit of research can sort out which institutions have which kind of works.

The idea of "never use anything unless you can clear its copyright status first" is exactly the kind of chilling effect on creative works that the Bound by Law comic was created to address.

[LucyLu]

These 2 pages could be useful to understand better:

Learn how to identify public domain photos:

http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/pu...in-photos.html


How to Determine Whether a Work is in the Public Domain

http://www.public.asu.edu/~dkarjala/...SearchC-R.html

[emellaich]

... and there is another way to answer the OP's question.

It may be hard to track down the provenance and history of a specific photo. However, there are tons (zillions? oodles? lots?) of photo's that are available with no strings attached. Instead of trying to clear a specific photo it may be easier to find a 'free' photo that meets your needs.

Search for creative commons licensed photos. Flicker has a special creative commons section. The terms may vary, but in many cases you can use them with no restrictions as long as you offer attribution to the creator.

[morriss003]

Originally Posted by dwig

In the US, if the original photo was copyrighted then such a copy would be illegal unless the "copy" was substantially altered.

This might be the key. Photo software can take a fraction of an image and change it so that it's unrecognizable. Might be watermarked though.