P3D Re: Realist advertising

["Greg Wageman" <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Resent due to bounce.


>From: Tom Martin <tlmartin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>
>>So for any copyrighted work published before 1950 (1976 - 26 = 1950),
>if
>>the copyright was not renewed, it would today fall into public domain
>>today.
>
>
>The prudent thing to do, from a self-protection standpoint, would be to
>assume that it was renewed, or find proof to the contrary.
>
>>However, the original request was about advertising, and most
>>advertising was not copyrighted in the first place, so most of the
>1950s
>>ads are in public domain already.
>
>Even if the advertisement itself doesn't carry a copyright notice,
isn't
>it covered by the blanket copyright of the publication in which it
>appeared?  And without knowing the exact wording of the contract under
>which the ad was produced, the copyright may have reverted to the
agency
>which produced it.  My point being since copyrights can be, and often
>are, assigned, it isn't sufficient just to know the timeline.
>
>>You must decide the degree of risk that you are comfortable with when
>publishing a work that is not >your own.
>
>I agree.  However, intellectual property rights are a very hot issue
>now, mainly due to the growing popularity of the Internet.  I certainly
>would not want to offer an opinion which, if followed, could get
someone
>sued.  I prefer to point out instead what is clearly legal, rather than
>what someone "might", "could" or "probably will" get away with.
>
>>Most companies do not care if their old advertising is reprinted, as
>long as it is labeled as such and >does not put the company in an
>unfavorable light.
>
>I would be more concerned about the original publisher's claim of
>exclusive right to reprint, especially if they are large and employ
many
>lawyers, like a Time Warner.  Even nostalgia has some value these days.
>
>The only works you or I can reproduce with impunity are those whose
>rights you or I own, and those clearly and unequivocally in the public
>domain.  Anything else is risky.
>
>     -Greg W. (gjw@xxxxxxxxxx)
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