Re: French copyright & Postcards

On 4/28/97, Mark Tapio Kines <mark[_at_]boxtop.com> wrote:
>
> It's me again.. The guy with the French postcards.
>
> I was wondering if French copyright law is such that, to ensure
> copyright protection for a work, the owner must include the Copyright
> symbol - or at least a copyright notice - on the work. I know that in
> the U.S. you no longer must include this on the work, but I've heard
> some countries still insist on the symbol. Any info here?
>
> (I am trying to track down the French company who made the contemporary
> postcards I wish to use in my film, but until I reach them for clearance,
> any info that might help me would be great.)

To my knowledge a notice was not required in France. Europe did not, and does not, require a notice (fortmalities). The notice was required in pre 1978 works with publication in USA only. If a work was published without a notice in the USA it could have lost copyright protection. French works published in the USA would also fall into the public domain, but this would occur in the USA only and the work would still be under copyright in France. Now, with GATT restoration, things have changed. if you used the French card in your film, and the owner (probably the great great heirs) saw it, they could claim copyright royalties. If they are all dead, however, which may be the case, no one will bother you. You are experiencing the flustration in long copyright terms, lack of notices, and changes in copyright law. Under the old US law, it was easy to track down ownership, with copyright office records and notices in the USA. This is how the new copyright law (lack of notices) hinders the creator of new copyright in using old works in new creations (whether it is using public domain material, or locating current copyright owners).

If I was making your film I would contract an artist to make similar postcard (but not exact) to base the thought you want to portray, or look for some US postcards that are french in nature that you know are in the public domain.

Larry Urbanski
American Film Heritage Association
<larryu[_at_]moviecraft.com> Received on Tue Apr 29 1997 - 23:51:34 GMT