Lizzy

 

I have seen no responses to your enquiry on the list, though you might have had some privately. I offer a few thoughts therefore, even though it is now Tuesday. I’m afraid I was out until today.

 

The copyright in the paintings will expire 70 years after the end of the year in which the artist died. If that was during the Second World War expiry cannot be far off and might already have happened.

 

The existence of a new copyright in photographs of the paintings is uncertain. Many such images will merely be copies and will attract no new copyright to themselves. What is required is that the photographs are new intellectual creations that express the personality of their authors. This requires, for a facsimile image, quite a significant degree of skill and artistry, using lighting, filtration and exposure together perhaps with subsequent darkroom manipulation. Put simply, a picture taken by a member of the public using a hand-held camera when visiting a gallery is most unlikely to qualify but a professional image using tripod, careful lighting and other facilities might do (but might not).

 

If there is a copyiright in the photographs it will belong (assuming that they were taken after 1989) to the photographer, unless he was working as an employee for instance of the newspaper. The newspaper will not otherwise own any rights in the photographs. It will own the copyright in the text of any accompanying article. It seems unlikely that there would be any infringement of the newspaper’s copyright in the typographical arrangement of the page, since you are dealing only with a clipping not with a full page, and in any case reproduction solely of the pictures could not infringe that copyright.

 

The owner of the paintings owns no rights in them, unless the copyright was assigned or bequeathed to him or her by the artist.

 

You may not supply copies of the images unless you have permission from the copyright owner(s), ie the owner of the artist’s copyright (unless it has already expired) and the owner of any copyright in the photographs. Thus, if the artist died in 1941 or earlier and you conclude that the photographs are not new artistic works you may go ahead and supply the copies, but you should bear in mind that others might disagree about the quality of the photographs.

 

Tim

 

------------------

Tim Padfield

Copyright Officer and Information Policy Consultant

The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU

+44 (0)20 8392 5381

[log in to unmask]

 

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

 

PLEASE NOTE: Any advice given must not be treated as legal advice, for which professional advice should be sought

.

 

 

 

Dear all,

I have a bit of a Friday copyright query which has come to us from our museums service. It's a little bit of a convoluted story:

2 paintings of a pub interior painted by a local artist in the 1930's. The artist died in the Second World War. The paintings were apparently bought at a local auction in the 1970s. In 2006 photographs of the 2 paintings appeared in a local paper - but the owner of the paintings wished to remain anonymous. The newspaper articles were cut out and added to a file of photographs and newspaper clippings  in the local studies library. We inherited this folder after our merger. The museums service has now asked for permission to scan the newspaper clippings and use the photographs of the posters in an exhibition.

I'm sure I could figure this out if it wasn't a Friday afternoon! -Who has the copyright of the photographs of the paintings in the newspaper?

Any help or advice gratefully received,

Many thanks,

Lizzy

Lizzy Baker
Public Services Officer
East Riding of Yorkshire Archives and Local Studies Service

County Hall
Beverley
HU17 9BA

Tel: (01482) 392790
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

 

 

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