Usage of an old photo with expired copyright
I would like to use an old photo/postcard (example 1, example 2) for a non-commercial poster. The poster is for a school assignment. The photo would illustrate a map and text about the history of the Flying Bluenose. The copyright of the original photo has already expired.
However, since someone else has scanned the photo, do I require explicitly permission from the "file owner" beside citing the source?
I am residing in Canada.
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1 answer
Follow the rules set out on the page you want to copy from.
The railway schedule is part of the Bob MacIntosh Collection.
Bob has given the DARDPI wiki permission to use his image collection and for individuals to enjoy them for their own personal study of the D.A.R. Bob MacIntosh reserves all rights on his image collection for any commercial use and forbids the use of these images on any other site without his express permission.
The train picture comes from a book, Canadian Pacific's Dominion Atlantic Railway, Vol 2.
Both volumes are 26 pages inside. Each 8 1/2 x 11 page is a full sized photograph with description. Nearly every photo is the first time in print. Excellent photos and excellent details on the descriptions.
You can't just say "oh the copyright has expired" because you don't know if that's true. Items do pass into the public domain but not necessarily in straight-forward ways. For example the train schedule itself is almost certainly public domain (and probably was never copyrighted) but the scan or photo of it belongs to the person who took it. Which was a lot more recently (and might be Bob MacIntosh). Just like a picture of an old public building belongs to the person who took it.
The train picture is from the 1920's but the one on the site belongs to Ken McIlvoy. If you could get another original, you'd maybe be fine. In the US, anything from 1923 or earlier, that otherwise would have qualified for public domain, is now in the public domain. For other works, it can be a lot more complicated. In Canada, works enter public domain 50 years after the death of the artist/writer. I would not assume that the photographer died before 1969, or that the copyright has lapsed for any other reason.
But what you want to use is a photo of that photo. Here's what Canadian law has to say about that:
Many websites provide access to digital reproductions of works that are in the Public Domain. For instance, the websites of museums and art galleries often include online collections of images, and many of these images depict manuscripts, paintings, sculptures, and other creative works that are in the Public Domain.
Although the act of digitizing a Public Domain work is not itself sufficient to create a new, copyrighted version of the original work, it is important to exercise caution when using such digital reproductions, as they are often made available subject to terms and conditions in legally enforceable license agreements.
More specifically, if a website’s terms of use specifically restrict the ways in which you can use the website’s content, then these restrictions would prevail over your right to use that content in accordance with the Copyright Act. For example, if a museum’s website includes an image of a painting that is in the Public Domain, but the website’s terms of use prohibit you from copying or distributing the image, then you must abide by this restriction.
In other words, follow the rules of the page you got it from. If you aren't sure, ask.
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