[Commons-l] LIFE photo archive hosted by Google

[Andrew Gray]

2008/11/19 David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com>:
> 2008/11/19 Michael Galpert | Aviary <michael at aviary.com>:
>
>> dont think that applies across the board since some of these images are
>> being published for the first time
>
> Really? I thought the published/unpublished distinction didn't affect
> that in US law.
>
> (I'm sure someone has full legal details to hand ...)

It is indeed *published* before 1923, though we've been a bit vague
about confirming this in the past. There's a very useful table of such
things here:

http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/

However, archives like these are still very useful - if it was made
before 1923 for a news magazine, odds are high it were published quite
promptly, and it's often a lot easier to take their image and confirm
with a pre-1923 source than it is to ferret out the source and scan
from scratch...

-- 
- Andrew Gray
  andrew.gray at dunelm.org.uk