Dear all (and hello again Paul, if you are as I believe the fellow
Penguin living in that airt)

I have recently had to check the use of old quotations in a book on Hugh
Miller which we are just about to publish. I found that the [UK] Society
of Authors website has useful sections on its website giving some
guidance for cases like this - on how much one can use from older and
other works when they are still in copyright, and when they are no
longer in copyright and so fair game.  

The rules are fairly complex but generally the critical date for loss of
copyright is 70 (not, as it used to be, 50) years after the death of the
author or after publication, whichever is later. Thus if the book was
published in 1880 and authors are (as I guess from a quick search in the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) the botanical illustrators
Walter Hood Fitch (1817-1892) and  Worthington George Smith (1835-1917),
simple arithmetic indicates that there can be no copyright later than
1987, and there seems no problem in recycling the pics.

I have not found any positive indication on what happens if and when
they sold the copyright to someone else but I cannot see that that they
could extend the period of copyright just because they sold it. 

The one occasion where one may have to bear in mind a later right is
when someone else has produced the copy images - for instance a
university library. I am not quite sure that there is any copyright in
the photo itself given that it is purely secondary to the original
artwork: I had previously thought so, but a recent review of photographs
of life reconstruction models of extinct animals has suggested
otherwise, or at least that the prior copyright of the artist-modeller
overrides any copyright in the photo. But the supplier can certainly
require acknowledgements and other conditions (e.g. not giving out
copies to anyone else) in return for providing a copy, which have the
same practical effect. However, if you scan the book direct, this should
not be an issue. 

If anyone knows better, and can provide documentary evidence such as an
authoritative website, I would also be very interested to know, as we
are also looking at recycling some old book illustrations for our Miller
effort!

Mike Taylor
National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh

-----Original Message-----
From: History of Natural History [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Chaplin, Simon
Sent: 24 January 2007 08:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [HIST-NAT-HIST] FW: copyright

 
Dear list members,
We've received the following enquiry. I wondered if anyone might be able
to advise? If so, could you please make sure that your reply is copied
to Mr Copestake ([log in to unmask]) as well as the list.
Many thanks
Simon



Dear Sir, Madam

I am writing on behalf of the Loch broom Field club. We have published a
small booklet on the flora of Loch broom which we sell locally to
interested visitors in the area.

The club though properly constitutes is very small and the sales is seen
as an extension of our own interests and although we aim to cover our
costs the small surplus is fed back into the club.

The flora is due for reprinting, as electronic methods now make adding
illustrations viable, we would like to include some within the
publication. With no artists on tap, one of the group suggested that we
scan some of the pictures from the 'Illustrations of the British Flora'
(a series of wood engravings with dissections of British plants) drawn
by W H Fitch and W G Smith. The book we have was published by L Reeve in
1880.

Do you know, or advise us who might know, whether we could do this
without infringing copyright?

Yours sincerely

Paul Copestake

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