Copyright of image of old advertising card sold on ebay

Question

or can I use it on a profile? I

I've found a picture on pinterest of an advertising postcard for the shop owned by my husbands great grandfather. I'd like to use it as it conveys far more about the shop than description from written adverts which I could use.

 It says that the postcard comes from an ebay advert.(unfortunately long ago sold)

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/426012445973730347/

There is another version of  the card (possibly enhanced) elsewhere on the net. This has got a copyright indication.

http://www.1066online.co.uk/gallery/old-photos/gw-barrance-and-ford-shop-1906

 

 

 

Comments

This is an interesting question to me... one of my ancestors was a printer in NYC who made Victorian trade cards... and another, a man who had a shirt making/retailing business and who was an innovative user of advertising in his day, was his customer. Their children got married.... and so here I am!

Of course, when i realize this, I began a program of buying up these trade cards when I see them on Ebay. :)

Answer 1

I am not a leader or anyone who sets policy, but the way I see it is,

If there is any chance that these images could be covered by copyright laws and you have not obtained permission from the copyright holders then using them on WikiTree would be a violation of the honor code and should not be done.

Answer 2

Helen, You might want to inquire about your question with your family lawyer.

Answer 3

Hi Helen,

did you contact the website to ask them to use the picture ?

http://www.1066online.com/forms/contact-us/

Comments

Thanks, I will do that. As you may have seen I've already been involved with discussion on the photo.

Either that or try to find another copy from a postcard dealer.I suspect they were produced in huge numbers.

Answer 4

Generally speaking, here in the USA, anything copyrighted before 1924 is ok to use.  Exception being if the copyright has been renewed.  There are different dates for copyright expiration--according to what category is copyrighted.

But, no one else can put a copyright on someone else's original work.  So....the website that says it is copyrighted by them online is not correct.  However, the rules for this may be different in the UK--but I think they are generally the same.  The only parts that the .com can copyright is their own original work, such as their own wording, their own photography etc.

Copyrights can be assigned to others, but only from the copyright holder.

Comments

Yes, that's what I thought though I could see that enhancing a picture on photoshop means that it is an original piece of work, I can't see that just scanning it can possibly be claimed to be original.

 American  law seems clearer on this . However,  it  hasn't been tested in court in the UK ,the National Gallery did claim that it had copyright over reproductions of it's pictures but didn't pursue the case.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Portrait_Gallery_and_Wikimedia_Foundation_copyright_dispute
 

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And let's not forget to distinguish between copyright and terms of use. Two distinct issues.

The photo may be out of copyright, but the terms of use (a contract) of the web site that posted the photo may exclude its being posted on other web sites.