P3D Re: Realist advertising

[Tom Martin <tlmartin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike Canter wrote:

> I believe, if I read the first post correctly, that it is the ADS that
> are different, not necessarily the cameras.  Vintage advertising gives
> an interesting glimpse into the mindset of a bygone era.  Piaggio has
> had a group of their ads from the forties through the sixties up on
> their website.  I wonder about the copyright(s): have they expired by
> now, and if not, is David White enforcing them?  Perhaps Tom Martin 
> could comment, since he recently used the logo on his clothing.  Tom,
> how about it?

To answer a very complicated question quickly, most of the copyrights of
the ads from the '40s have expired, most of the copyrights on the ads
from the '50s are still valid. David White handed all of the trademarks
and copyrights over to Ron Zackowski in the eighties. Ron is a very nice
gentleman who is not connected to the Internet and doesn't have the
resources or desire to challenge publishing of Realist material on the
Internet. So from that standpoint, there would be no problem posting the
ads on your web site. (I did get permission from Ron to use the Realist
trademark!)

However, many of the ads have photos of people in them, and they have
not signed away their rights to have their image copied or published on
the Internet. Even though many of these people are deceased, their heirs
have inherited these rights and some (movie star kids) go after any one
using photos of their beloved for any reason without their permission.

Bottom line is you probably won't be caught for posting those ads, and
if you are, they probably will just make you take them down since you
are not making any money from them. If you have the time and resources,
go for it. But don't take my word for legal advice.

Not a lawyer and never pretending to be, Tom Martin
mailto:tlmartin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx