Michael,

If you think your use falls under Fair Use you may find the recently
released document from the Visual Resources Association useful

*Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study*. *
http://www.vraweb.org/organization/pdf/VRAFairUseGuidelinesFinal.pdf*.

Trish Rose-Sandler
Data Analyst, Biodiversity Heritage Library Project
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/


On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 1:45 PM, Beanworks <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I think what Cary is trying to say is "welcome to the fun world of
> copyright!"
>
> No, you shouldn't assume copyright was not renewed. You will need to
> determine (1) who the copyright holder is/was and (2) whether the copyright
> has lapsed. This is not always an easy task, which is why you need to
> document your good faith efforts (which will, of course, be exhaustive).
>
> Carol
>
> On Dec 9, 2011, at 2:26 PM, Cary Gordon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Copyright law requires that you make a good-faith effort to find the
> > copyright owners. If you document such effort and they sue you, this
> > can weigh heavily in your favor. There are two obvious caveats: a) You
> > can still get sued, not to mention annoying cease-and-desist letters;
> > and 2) They could still win.
> >
> > Being that we are, for the most part, not art critics, you could
> > consider creating original art. You might get mocked, particularly
> > after a few beers, but that's just the way we roll. Of course, if you
> > buy beer, that will reduce any mock risk.
> >
> > Cary
> >
> > On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 12:34 PM, Doran, Michael D <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >> I was hoping to re-use/re-purpose a couple of 1962 Seattle World's Fair
> images found on the interwebs [1][2].  Both images were originally created
> for souvenir decals.
> >>
> >> According to the U.S. Copyright Office's "Copyrights Basics" [3]
> section on works originally created and published or registered before
> January 1, 1978, "copyright endured for a first term of 28 years from the
> date it was secured" -- i.e. for these images, from 1962 to 1990.  It goes
> on to say that "During the last (28th) year of the first term, the
> copyright was eligible for renewal."  This however, was *not* an automatic
> renewal.
> >>
> >> So, unless the copyright was explicitly renewed in 1990, the images are
> in the public domain.  Since these images were for souvenir decals (rather
> than something like a poster), I'm inclined to think the original copyright
> owner probably didn't renew the copyright.  However, I don't know who the
> original copyright owner is and really have no way of finding out, and
> therefore I can't ascertain whether or not the copyright was renewed.
> >>
> >> For those with more experience in copyright, any thoughts regarding
> situations like this?
> >>
> >> I realize this isn't a coding question, but figured I might get some
> helpful responses from those of y'all working in archives and various
> digital projects where copyright issues regularly come up.
> >>
> >> ps  I've eliminated the "Century 21 Exposition" logo in my proposed
> reuse, if that matters (on one image, there is a registered trademark
> symbol next to the logo).  I'm also not retaining the original "Seattle
> World's Fair" text.
> >>
> >> -- Michael
> >>
> >> [1] http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollywoodplace/6007390480/
> >>
> >> [2]
> http://media.photobucket.com/image/seattle%20world%2527s%20fair%20monorail/bananaphone5000/NEWGORILLA/SeattleWFDecal.jpg
> >>
> >> [3] http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf
> >>
> >> # Michael Doran, Systems Librarian
> >> # University of Texas at Arlington
> >> # 817-272-5326 office
> >> # 817-688-1926 mobile
> >> # [log in to unmask]
> >> # http://rocky.uta.edu/doran/
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Cary Gordon
> > The Cherry Hill Company
> > http://chillco.com
>