Reproduced from an original Frith and Co photograph in the 1927 Penzance Guide.
One of the largest problems to be faced on a website such as Picture Penzance is copyright and possible subsequent legal actions.
The largest single present contender to face is that of The Frith Collection, the oldest such firm.
As such I have approached them with various questions.
I was querying the use of old images pre 1939, as these were in books
and on postcards and beyond the 70 year watershed for the Law.
Many pictures of Francis Frith are not in their collection (available on line)
and these appear on postcards and in books.
The reply very well covered the exact situation.........
The issue around copyright can seem complicated,
but basically you need to think about the date of the artifact from which you are reproducing,
regardless of the date the photograph was taken,
as it is the artifact itself which is the artwork or artifact which is subject to copyright.
If you are reproducing from an original old postcard which is more than 70 years old,
the postcard itself is out of copyright and so you may reproduce
from it without breaching copyright or being liable for a reproduction fee.
If you have old Frith postcards which are more than 70 old which you wish to
reproduce from, you may do without breaching our copyright and without being liable to a reproduction fee.
The images should be credited as
'Reproduced from an original Frith and Co postcard'.
If you are reproducing from a book - in principle,
if a book is more than 70 years old then you should be able to reproduce from it without breaching
copyright and without being liable for a reproduction fee,
but you should be careful to ensure that the original publishing company is no longer in existence - if it is,
then you really should enquire from that company about their copyright terms.
If you wish to reproduce a Frith image from an old book
which is out of copyright as discussed above then you may do so,
subject to the caveat above, and the image should be credited as 'A Frith and Co
image, reproduced from (and the title, publishing date etc of the book).'
If a book has been published within the last 70 years then the book itself is the item which is subject to copyright,
regardless of the age of the material reproduced within it,
and you should enquire for permission to reproduce from the publisher,
and will probably be liable for a reproduction fee. The
publisher will tell you the correct credit wording to use.
Julia Skinner, Photo Library Manager, The Francis Frith Collection .
So, there you are.
By all means upload a re-photograph or scan of a postcard or photograph from a book,
provided the book/postcard is older than 1939.
Please check if the publisher is still extant and be sure of their policy as to re-use of material in their publication,
since the work will not have been their own, but is included in one of their publications.
When uploading any such photograph that you give the date of the work and the source of the material.
If not provided the upload will be transferred into the
Administrators' 'Awaiting Approval' folder until such information is given.
Raymond Forward
