[WikiEN-l] Image copyright question: NYT images pre 1922 that are claimed to be copyrighted

Sun Sep 11 16:56:52 UTC 2005

Daniel P. B. Smith wrote:
> I frequently make use of an online database, made available to me at  no
> cost by my local public library system, which contains not merely  the
> full text but the actual page images of The New York Times back  to 1857.
> 
> Obviously there's no problem with short quotes from the text, but  what
> about images prior to 1923?
> 
> EVERY piece of material downloaded from this database, back to 1857, 
> contains a notice like this:
> 
> "Display Ad 7--No Title. New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 30, 
> 1888; [database name] Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851  -
> 2001) pg. 8. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further
> reproduction prohibited without permission."
> 
> I'd syllogize that a) everything published before 1923 is in the  public
> domain, and b) everything that appears in The New York Times  has been
> publisheded, ergo c) this is in the public domain, and that  the notice
> is just boilerplate, presumably put on everything because  it is easier
> and less risky to put it on everything than to attempt  to determine
> which things are under copyright (after all, a few more  Sonny Bono laws
> and this may BE copyrighted again), and that I can  safely ignore it,
> that I use the image freely, and that no permission  is required.
> 
> Comments?
> 

IIRC (although IANAL) scanning something (in the US) doesn't add any
copyright to it...

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