Copyright Aid

Hi again Andy

Last one (I promise!). I would be really glad if you could you cast your expert eye over this one, please.

In my travels seeking suitable material for our town exhibition display, I have bought a lovely family photograph - it is taken on our local beach, with a recognisable landmark building (which was demolished in 1965) as a backdrop. The clothing worn could well be late 1950s.

The photograph has a postcard printed to the rear (so was, presumably, taken by an unnamed beach photographer) but bears no other wording, dates, signatures, etc, and has never been posted (so no postmark).

I guess that the photo will still probably be in copyright with regards to reprints, but can I display the original photo? I've had a look through your other forum items, but am a bit confused about personal family photographs, as opposed to those that could be purchased or were intended for publication.

As this is of local interest (and bought locally) I'm guessing that someone may recognize the family thereon, and I am anxious not to have someone biff me on the mazzard if I get it wrong!

Many thanks as always.

Best regards

Sally

Hi Sally,
You should be perfectly OK exhibiting the postcard. You are right that in early to middle part of the last century personal photographs were sometimes printed with postcard details on the opposite side, and the fact that an image appears to be a postcard doesn't necessarily mean it would have been on sale to the general public. The usual clue as to whether something was a commercial postcard would be the inclusion of details of the publisher.

But assuming that the photograph pre-dates the 1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act, the provision about photographs of a private and domestic nature found in section 85 of the CDPA is not retrospective so it would not apply to this image.

Hi Andy

Thank you so much for this - that's great news!

I was fully expecting to have to consign this one to my discards pile, as there was something at the back of my mind telling me that I couldn't display private photographs.

Thank you, as ever, for the amazing service - I may have to include your site in the display credits for the exhibition, as you seem to have done a huge amount of work on its behalf!

Best regards

Sally

MrsTwosheds wrote: Thank you, as ever, for the amazing service - I may have to include your site in the display credits for the exhibition, as you seem to have done a huge amount of work on its behalf!

Sally

All part of the service! I'm sure the site's owner won't mind a bit of publicity. As for me, I'm just passing through and have no connection with the site's owner.