Vintage Photos

Depends on what it is a photograph of, and whether it is copyrighted. You cannot just buy a photo and then reproduce it as yours.

Please put

Vintage or

Copyright

In the discussion search. We had this same question asked a day or two ago

You've asked a simple question with unfortunately a very complex answer or answers. There are no lawyers here to advise (as far as I know), and I'm certainly not one.
Legal factors include copyright, trademark, right of publicity, etc, etc. (yes, there are more) Many questions have to be answered, which include but are probably not limited to, who took it, when did they take it, what is it of, how is it being sold (for what purpose), and so on.

Not a lawyer, so the above is simply my viewpoint, not legal advice, and nothing more.

it depends on who owns the copyright, how old the image is, there are many factors in there. you would have to contact a copyright lawyer and research to see if the image is safe to use or not. chances are you'll be fine. if its a family member it should be fine.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Can you is one question. Should you is another. Neither are very easy to answer.

Unless you know that they are your own family photographs and you know that you are entitled to them I would not even consider it. But if you are certain about the copyright you would not have asked.

A photograph is no different than a painting in terms of copyright. Would you assume you could make copies of a painting you didn't paint just because you own it?

There are photographs in the public domain, but this is an odd forum to post your question. It's up to you to do your own research so that you're not in violation of someone's copyright.

The simple answer is, if you don't know the answer to the question, then no.

Rather than be discouraging, I'd say do research into the various legal areas that effect this, and/or talk to a lawyer that deals with media.

Note that depending on how you want to sell it, your issues could range to more than copyright. For example an art print might be fine, while selling as stock or on a product might not.

Standard disclaimer, not a lawyer, my own opinion only, and should not be taken as legal advice.

My father gave me all his old photographs and negatives many years ago. So I know I own the photographs and could do with them whatever I choose - which is nothing at all at the moment. But if some came to me from an unknown source, if someone else happened upon some of his old prints, that would not make the copyright theirs. Just because a photograph is old doesn't mean anything. My father died 15 years ago but his photographs go back to the early 1930s.

This site might help with respect to copyright

http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

l believe that USA copyright is 70 years after the death of the original photographer.
The recent release of thousands of vintage photos at Wikimedia by the Photochrom
Corporation reflects just that - and all those photos are now in the Public Domain -
meaning any use (except if it brings the original owner into disrepute) any use with
attribution. So, modify & sell to your heart's delight!

Thanks for all your feedback this really helped.