this a typical case of an orphan work. Please see our statement on the legislation discussion in Germany:

http://www.wikimedia.de/images/4/43/120810_WMDE_Statement_On_Orphan_Works.pdf (in English).

Relevant are though the national laws despite the effort of EU to harmonize the cases.

gg bfisch

Barbara Fischer

Kuratorin für Kulturpartnerschaften

Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | NEU: Obentrautstr. 72 | 10963 Berlin

Tel. (030) 219 158 26-0

http://wikimedia.de

Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V. Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.

2012/11/9 Daniel Mietchen <daniel.mietchen@googlemail.com>

Hi all,

I am in discussion with a UK museum over the release of an image from
their digital collection under more liberal terms than CC BY NC. It is
of a portrait made around 1915, of someone who died before 1930. I
don't know who the painter was, nor whether or when they died. I don't
know who made the photo or whether the portrait is actually in the
museum (I suppose it is).

Is the above information sufficient to determine the copyright status
of the digital copy?

Thanks for any pointers,

Daniel

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