Making Copies of Professional Pics

I have a few professional pics of my grandparents that I would like to make copies of. But I know that a lot of places won't do it because of copyrights. But what do you do if the business is no longer a business??? They have gone out of business. How do you get a signed authorization to copy it????

thanks Yvonne

How old are the photos? I think the copyright is good for 50 years or less.

they were married in 1933 and this is their 47th wedding anniversary pics.

But the company is out of business so what do you do then???

This topic "making copies of copyrighted materials" gets very HOT around here. Don't be surprised by the responses.

and I am sure scrapn biker chick didn't mean to encourage anyone to circumvent copyright laws.

I usually scan them at home and print. If it's professional restoration they should be able to look it up to see who's out of business.

i don't forsee this ending well......

wish I could help.

From http://www.copyright.gov:

How do I get permission to use somebody else's work?
You can ask for it. If you know who the copyright owner is, you may contact the owner directly. If you are not certain about the ownership or have other related questions, you may wish to request that the Copyright Office conduct a search of its records or you may search yourself. See the next question for more details.

How can I find out who owns a copyright?
We can provide you with the information available in our records. A search of registrations, renewals, and recorded transfers of ownership made before 1978 requires a manual search of our files. Upon request, our staff will search our records at the statutory rate of $150 for each hour. There is no fee if you conduct a search in person at the Copyright Office. Copyright registrations made and documents recorded from 1978 to date are available for searching online. For further information, see Circular 22, How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work, and Circular 23, Copyright Card Catalog and the Online File.

How much of someone else's work can I use without getting permission?
Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. See FL 102, Fair Use, and Circular 21, Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians.

Could I be sued for using somebody else's work? How about quotes or samples?
If you use a copyrighted work without authorization, the owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you. There are circumstances under the fair use doctrine where a quote or a sample may be used without permission. However, in cases of doubt, the Copyright Office recommends that permission be obtained.

My local copying store will not make reproductions of old family photographs. What can I do?
Photocopying shops, photography stores and other photo developing stores are often reluctant to make reproductions of old photographs for fear of violating the copyright law and being sued. These fears are not unreasonable, because copy shops have been sued for reproducing copyrighted works and have been required to pay substantial damages for infringing copyrighted works. The policy established by a shop is a business decision and risk assessment that the business is entitled to make, because the business may face liability if they reproduce a work even if they did not know the work was copyrighted.

In the case of photographs, it is sometimes difficult to determine who owns the copyright and there may be little or no information about the owner on individual copies. Ownership of a “copy” of a photograph – the tangible embodiment of the “work” – is distinct from the “work” itself – the intangible intellectual property. The owner of the “work” is generally the photographer or, in certain situations, the employer of the photographer. Even if a person hires a photographer to take pictures of a wedding, for example, the photographer will own the copyright in the photographs unless the copyright in the photographs is transferred, in writing and signed by the copyright owner, to another person. The subject of the photograph generally has nothing to do with the ownership of the copyright in the photograph. If the photographer is no longer living, the rights in the photograph are determined by the photographer’s will or passed as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession.

There may be situations in which the reproduction of a photograph may be a “fair use” under the copyright law. Information about fair use may be found at: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html However, even if a person determines a use to be a “fair use” under the factors of section 107 of the Copyright Act, a copy shop or other third party need not accept the person’s assertion that the use is noninfringing. Ultimately, only a federal court can determine whether a particular use is, in fact, a fair use under the law.

And FYI: if a store like CVS is caught and prosecuted for violating copyright, the store can be fined, the clerk can be fined (and lose their job!) and you could be fined if you're the one trying to get the photo copied without permission.

Can you not scan and print them yourself? or find a friend who can?

• scrapn biker chick Said:

For my parents 50th wedding anniversary--i wanted to make a DVD with music showing thier lives over the years

i just scanned the pictures in--loaded to cd--added music--and VIOLA

latter--my mom wanted a few more pictures to give to her friends in her thankyous---i just scanned them in and printed myself----i know you said you were looking for a way not to print your self--but hey--you can get a decent canon all in one photo printer at a decent price--------just might be worth the 80 to 100 bucks --to save on the grief and worry about all the copyright

(BTW--if i tried to find the studio where some of those pictures were made---forget about it---my mom said the owner of one place has long been dead--and the shop burned down in '68--13 years after they were married--they have now been married 53 yrs)

Yes, I could print at home, I have a photo printer but I would rather use matte or satin paper not glossy which is all I can find for home printing photo paper.

I printed the pic myself and it is darker then the original.

This pic is an 8x10 and it is adhered to cardboard by the company. It has the company name on the front of the pic in the lower right corner. There is no name, addy or anything on the back.

This is the reason that I always PURCHASE the copyright when I have professional photos made today,,,I understand that probably wasnt an option THEN,,,,,but this is why I do it today,,,it costs a bit of money, but it's worth it, IMHO. The most I ever paid was an extra 70 bucks above and beyond the package costs,,,,,and the least I ever paid was 7.00 above and beyond the photo costs. No headaches.

Holly

Ok so maybe this is a stupid question but I really have no idea how this works b/c I never get professional photos done, I usually take pics myself. But anyway, my question is if your using a professional photo for personal use only and that's why you were making a copy of it, how would someone know if you made a copy/copies of it, especially if you made a copy by scanning and printing yourself? Like I said maybe that's a stupid question but I'm just curious, and I'm not asking to be rude or anything, I just really don't know.

• JessieGirl01 Said:

People who are familliar with the photographer's work might say "Hey, great job on that 16x20 that I saw at Karla's house last night!" and the photographer never made a 16x20 for the customer in question. Photographers have tested labs before by submitting non-authorized copyright protected work for copying to see what the lab does. Same way neighbors here have found out that other people have downloaded layouts in their gallery and put them on other sites like blogs and ebay.

• SticklesQueenMoxie Said:

Oh ok, that makes sense. Thank you for answering my question. The first and last professional photos I've had done were my senior photos 4 years ago, I guess that's why my mom bought the copyrights to them. lol Thanks again!

I am a now a private photographer and worked as a manager for a professional studio for many years. Call your local Sears Portrait Studio and explain that you need some copies made and how long ago it was from and they will have you fill out a release from them stating that the business is no longer open and they should be able to make copies for you. You could also try this with Walgreens and CVS too but I think that Sears is you easiest bet. Hope that this can help. Have a Blessed night!Nichole

I called our local photography company and they said if the business is no longer, the owner is dead and that the building is no longer there either, they have no problem making copies.

when i come to matte or semi gloss I find our local office supply carries generic for cheaper. I use the staples office supply store. they also carry printable fabric, great for a rustic or desheveled look

• lilmrmaid Said:

well that makes life easier!!!!! It would be mighty difficult to get permission or to pay for copies of something when the shop is closed and the photographer is dead! Holly

I tried to make copies of my grandparent's wedding photos a few years and the Wal-Mart where I was would not do it. The photos were taken in 1937 in Cleveland and I am in Kansas. They refused to do it because the company could be open under another name. I had another Wal-Mart that would do it because they were so old... they told me that after so many years the copyright is void anyway.

I think sometimes it depends on who you ask. My father-in-law had a poster size enlargement made of my daughter's school picture for her funeral - I don't know how he got them to do it. I tried to get reprints of pics from the Wal-Mart studio and they couldn't find them but I couldn't copy them either...frustrating!

I wanted to make a copy of a pic at one of the copy shops and they said they could not do it but directed me to a machine and said I could make my own copy that way they could not be held liable only me

• onekraftykay Said:

in the future just know that they can be held liable since it's their equipment and they told you to do it.

• SticklesQueenMoxie Said:

I am ashamed to admit that when I was very young and very stupid and didn't know any better I worked for photomat (remember them?? drive through drop off service for photo development??),,,,,I was instructed to inform people to simply COLOR IN the "OLan Mills" or other gold stamped emblem with crayon to match the background (usually black) so that we could play "ignorant" and pretend we hadn't seen it and copy the photo "in error",,,,

I kid you not. And I knew not that this was wrong. Of course, silly me, I trusted my employers.

Holly

• holly1965 Said:

We were "dicouraged" from doing that in my old company. breaking copyright law had some consequences for the associate and every year we had to go to copyright training and sign a form saying that we understood it AND acknowledged that firing was a consequence of breaking the law.