Re: Fwd: [AAUP-R] between the National Portrait Gallery and a Hard Place

On 6/7/05, Laura Young Bost <laura[_at_]utpress.ppb.utexas.edu> wrote:

>

I am puzzled at why the author of the book asked National Portrait Gallery for the permission to reproduce an image. If she did it only as a courtesy, she made a big mistake. If she did it due to legal reasons, what are the legal reasons?

National Portrait Gallery's claim on copyright in any future scans and photographs of the image is highly questionable. Without knowing more about the image (i.e., Is it published or is it still unpublished? If it is published, when did it become published? Did it have copyright notice when it became published?), I would not provide definite answer but will suggest the book _The Public Domain: How to Find & Use Copyright-Free Writings, Music, Art & More_ by Attorney Stephen Fishman that will guide you through steps to determine whether the image is in the public domain and if the image is in the public domain, whether any reproductions of it are in the public domain.

> Would it make any difference if the book is only sold in the US?

Yes, it makes a big difference. (Here is an example that I like to tell: Suppose that you are standing just next to the boundary between United States and Mexico and you are standing on the side of the United States. And, suppose you are holding a book whose copyright has expired in the United States but is still valid in Mexico (or vice versa). Now, if you stretch out your arm that holds the book toward the Mexico to the point where the book is completely in the air of Mexico, behold, the copyright in the book comes alive and is valid. But, if you takes it back into the air of United States, behold, the copyright is gone.) But, the author may have to prevent herself from visiting United Kingdom anytime in her lifetime, lest she finds herself in legal trouble once she touches the land (and water) of United Kingdom. She will have to evaluate the risk of being caught in legal trouble.

Joseph Pietro Riolo
<josephpietrojeungriolo[_at_]gmail.com>
<riolo[_at_]voicenet.com>

Number of days left until 1-1-2019 when all knowledge of 1923 in the land of the U.S.A. will be freed from their copyright owners' prisons: 4,954

Public domain notice: I put all of my expressions in this post in the public domain. Received on Wed Jun 08 2005 - 23:30:45 GMT