rights for defunct newspaper?

(Canadian question, but answers from US copyright perspective might apply):

My understanding is that a newspaper as an organization owns the copyright of the photos taken by staff photographers in the course of employment at the newspaper. Presuming that's correct, what happens to ownership of those photos when the newspaper ceases to exist, and isn't bought or absorbed by another company?

A photo agency has an old photo in its files that they want permission to use, but the orginating newspaper folded in the 1980s. So who owns the rights to the photo(s) now?

Thanks in advance for any opinions, from non-lawyers as they may be.

Debbie Millward, MLS
News Research Library Manager
Vancouver Sun | The Province
Vancouver, BC, Canada Received on Fri Mar 03 2006 - 06:50:00 GMT