[cc-community] Licensing postcards, etc.
James E. LaBarre
jamesl at bestweb.net
Sun Oct 1 22:50:04 EDT 2006
>> First example: I would like to put up a website of postcards &
>> brochures for an old botanical garden that closed in the early 1970's.
>> However, once I have gone through the trouble of scanning & posting
>> them, I'd like to "license" them so that no-one could turn around and
>> use them commercially, etc. The problem is, I don't know if they're
>> still under an existing copyright.
>>
> Depending on where you are in the world, the material may or may not
> still be in copyright. If it *is*, you can't licence it to others, as
> you don't own it. If it *isn't* in copyright, then it's public domain -
> put it out there and if someone wants to use it commercially, let them
> (the opportunity cost to you is zero, after all).
I'm not so sure it's that simple. Otherwise, how could sellers on eBay
scan photos & postcards for their auctions, and claim copyright on the
images? I've seen plenty of them watermarked.
More information about the cc-community
mailing list