Re: rights for defunct newspaper?

Debbie's conundrum - who bought assets of the defunct newspaper? - is one faced by many would be users. One suggestion aplicable in Canadian law: if the year in which the photo was made can be assertained, it might be in the public domain. Until very recently, the term of protection for photographs was 50 years from the date of making of the negative. A second suggestion, again pertenant to the Canadian scene, is that the Copyright Board can be asked to licence a use under Section 77 (Owners Who Cannot Be Located). See <www.cb-cda.gc.ca/unlocatable/brochure-e.html>.

For detailed examples of applications the Board has approved, check: <www.cb-cda.gc.ca/unlocatable/licences-e.html>; and for applications rejected: <www.cb-cda.gc.ca/unlocatable/otherdecisions-e.html>. Note that the work(s) being applied for must have been previously published. Cheers,
Bernard Katz, former head, Special Collections and Library Development

                            McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph     author, descriptive bibliog. of L.M. Montgomery's books (in progress)     and former chair, Ontario Library Association Copyright Task Force

On Thu, 2 Mar 2006, Millward, Debbie (VAN_Exchange) wrote:

> (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 - 23:40:55 GMT