COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP

Do Your Own the Photo, the Copyright, or Both?

by Joelle Steele

Over the years, I have received nasty emails and threats from people who claim that an antique photo I posted is theirs and that they own the copyright. One such person posts his old photos on his website with big copyright symbols superimposed on them.

But owning an antique photograph does not mean that you own the copyright unless you took the photo yourself. The United States copyright office makes it very clear that owning an old photo and owning it's copyright are two different things.

Per the U.S. Copyright Office: Ownership of a 'copy' of a photograph (the tangible embodiment of the 'work') is distinct from the 'work' itself (the intangible intellectual property). The photographer will own the copyright in the photograph (the intangible intellectual property) unless the copyright in the photograph is transferred, in writing and signed by the copyright owner, to another person. If the photographer is no longer living, the rights in the photograph are determined by the photographer’s will or are passed as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession. The photograph may eventually fall into the public domain (see next paragraph).

Old photographs fall into the public domain if they were created, published, or printed before 1923, were created by an unknown photographer more than 120 years ago, or were created by a photographer who died more than 70 years ago. So, unless the photographer (the original copyright owner) gave, sold, bequeathed, or transferred the copyright of a photograph to you, you do NOT own the copyright.

I use a lot of old antique photos under the "Fair Use" section of the United States Copyright Law because that allows me to use them to educate people, which is what I do in my articles, books, websites, and classes.