Copyright and postcards advice please

[cannasue]

Hello folks,

I'm after some information, and hoping that some folks on this site might be able to help me.

I'm in the process of writing a book about my home town of Weymouth, Dorset, mainly the recreational areas, such as beach, parks etc, and had decided to use present day photographs and old postcards to show the changes.

However, now well into my research, I've discovered that copyright laws are far more involved than I had realized! My understanding is that if it was published pre 1928, then it is in public domain, and I can use it, but some of the views are after that date, so how would I obtain permission to be able to use the view? I have contacted Salmon postcards this morning about one card that I might purchase, but as it's dated about the 40's I'm assuming that I'll need permission to be able to do so.

What happens though when the publishing company no longer exists? Or have been bought out by another? How do I find these things out?

Also, is there any other way that i can find certain subject matters in postcards, other than the usual E-bay route? The views I'm after are perhaps not always the most popular, so maybe not always for sale.

Many thanks,

Sue Hogben.

[eastlondonpostcard]

Copyright on Picture Postcards is never straight forward! - best guidance for the UK can be found here: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy.htm

And if, after trying to locate a publisher/artist fails to uncover copyright, then a disclaimer in the publication is an alternative if you are determined to use the particular view.

Not sure where you are sourcing your Postcards - to me, the best place to find them in my opinion is at a Postcard Fair and these are listed here and on the PTA website + advertised in the Picture Postcard Monthly magazine: http://www.postcardcollecting.co.uk - now available on-line.

There is an interesting publication published by a member of the Dorset Postcard Club featuring Weymouth Postcards - contact their chairman for more information. His details are on the PTA website as well: http://www.postcard.co.uk/clubuk.php - they may also be able to help you with some views.

Hope this helps - good luck with the venture

[Moonraker]

The topic has also come up several times on this forum - enter "copyright" in the search box. Copyright is also a recurring theme on the Great War Forum to which I belong; usually there's a great deal of discussion that still leaves grey areas, and some of us suggest a pragmatic approach. An Internet search may reveal if the original publisher is still in existence. The family photographic business founded by T L Fuller in Amesbury c1911 continues, and his grandson likes to be approached for permission to reproduce old postcards. Including a disclaimer (not just for illustrations but for text) as already suggested is a very good idea.


Moonraker

[cannasue]

Thank you for the replies,have contacted the local postcard club, and they have invited me to their next evening in September.

Will do the search as suggested.

I have already got a couple of cards that do not seem to be in production now (the business that is) is there somewhere that lists postcard companies and their dates of existence, when they went out of business, and if they got taken over by another company, as I understand that if the last scenario is true, then that company takes over the copyrights?
Sorry so many questions.

Sue

[eastlondonpostcard]

Good progress Sue - they are a nice crowd - enjoy the evening.

If the cards were locally produced, there may be records about the company in the Local History Library. If your postcards are postally used, then you will have a rough idea of the dates of production - of course it is possible that old postcard stock could be sold years after they were produced....... but you have to start somewhere.

Not aware of any central register of Postcard companies. There is a good book by Anthony Byatt - Picture Postcards and their Publishers - which correctly identifies major postcard publishers and their histories. A great piece of work - now out of print I believe - ISBN 0 9506212 0 X

Let me know the publishers you are interested in and I'll look them up

[cannasue]

Hello,

A couple of them have no manufacturers name on at all. But do have a line down the middle on the back, one has a stamp box, but nothing in it. The other has no stamp box at all.

Yet another dated 1927 just has printed in Great Britain, and is a real photograph.........but the really odd thing, is that the front looks immaculate?Hard to believe that it,s nearly 90 years old.
One that I', desperate to use, but postmarked 1952, is a Dearden & Wade, couldn't find anything about them.

The last (for now! :-}) is Copyright "Sunray series" published by Thunder & Clayden, Bournemouth. This is another one that I'm desperate to be able to use, and looking at it, it's probably the 50's again, so would need permission if the copyright, or company still exists.

Thank you so much for your help.

Sue

[squirerichard]

Sounds like a great project. I really like visiting Weymouth, it's got such a great beach and is a lovely place to spend a weekend away in. Been visiting for years and I was also the first-ever Weymouth Open Minigolf Champion so I'll always have an even fonder memory of the place

I love seeing old Postcards of Weymouth, seeing how busy the promenade was. They always jump out at you and are easily recognisable with the seafront Clock Tower in view!

Good luck with the book.

[cannasue]

Thank you, I know I'm biased, but the older I get, the more I love my home town, and I know it's progress, but some of the changes really grate on me.......simple things like they removed the strings of colored lights that adorned the seafront. I realize that they have to cut costs, but they're replaced with super duper lazer lights (that don't work for some unknown reason at the moment!) and the rest of the time, the esplanade just looks dull.

I'm trying to tack postcards of the lights at the moment, have a couple, and am hoping that at the postcard meetings, there might be some kind souls who'll help me out there maybe.