# Can I reproduce a newspaper page under fair use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016 "2016-06-22T04:45:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/1 "2016-06-22T04:45:37Z")
I’m going to a Roaring 20’s costume party and I want to print out the front page of a newspaper from the era as part of my costume; e.g. the NY Times page of Lucky Lindy crossing the Atlantic. Would that fall under fair use? I know it’s a pretty minor thing but the person who will print it out for me is pretty anal about violating copyrights (she’s a photographer). ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/2 "2016-06-22T05:08:20Z")
Fair Use is really just a set of guidelines and only a court can definitively decide whether a particular case is fair use. Your usage (making a costume just for fun) may or may not fall under [fair use factors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use#U.S._fair_use_factors)… it’s sort of transformative, you’re not making any money off it, you’re unlikely to impact the worth of that article (especially if you buy it from the NY Times archives for $3.95), etc. They’re also extremely unlikely to find out about it to begin with, much less prosecute you. There’s also the chance that an article published in 1920 is already out of copyright to begin with, though I’m not sure for that particular article. If you want to reasonably okay, just buy it from the NY Times and take it to a local printer instead of your photographer friend. If you want to be absolutely sure, you have to write the NY Times and seek explicit permission for your use, or ask a lawyer to verify that the article is already out of copyright. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/3 "2016-06-22T05:12:24Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > There’s also the chance that an article published in 1920 is already out of copyright to begin with, though I’m not sure for that particular article. Lindbergh’s flight was in 1927. According to [this](http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/OpposingCopyrightExtension/publicdomain/SearchC-R.html), if the copyright was renewed 28 years later (in 1955), the copyright will expire in 2022. If it wasn’t, it’s already public domain. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/4 "2016-06-22T05:19:01Z")
Just to add some more info… The [archives FAQ says](http://www.nytimes.com/content/help/search/archives/archives.html#archivesq06) that “You may save articles from our Article Archive for personal use. Copying or storing any article for other than personal, noncommercial use requires permission from The New York Times.” This suggests they are OK with you copying it for your personal, noncommercial use. You can also buy a big-ish print directly from them: > **[Front Page Reprint](https://store.nytimes.com/collections/personalized/products/new-york-times-front-page-reprint)** > > Straight from The Times archives, framed and unframed reprints are available of more than 57,500 historical front pages published since 1851. No copyright concerns there since they print (copy) it for you. > [@Colibri](#): > > Lindbergh’s flight was in 1927. According to [this](http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/OpposingCopyrightExtension/publicdomain/SearchC-R.html), if the copyright was renewed 28 years later (in 1955), the copyright will expire in 2022. If it wasn’t, it’s already public domain. Yeah, that’s what I’m not sure about. How do you check the copyright status of a particular article? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/5 "2016-06-22T14:57:14Z")
In the US anything from 1922 or before is in public domain. You can get some information here [http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/OpposingCopyrightExtension/publicdomain/SearchC-R.html](http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/OpposingCopyrightExtension/publicdomain/SearchC-R.html) on how to check. But by and large it is quite a pain to check on the status of newspaper articles and I’m never quite sure I’ve done it properly (thoroughly). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/6 "2016-06-22T15:58:51Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Yeah, that’s what I’m not sure about. How do you check the copyright status of a particular article? You do a search at the [Library of Congress](http://www.copyright.gov/records/). If the Times was copyrighted at all - and not all newspapers bothered, since they never envisioned any further use for stale news - the paper was copyrighted as a whole. Whether it was renewed 28 years later is even harder to say. Not all renewals appear to be in the LoC’s records. The convention is that nothing put into print after January 1, 1923 is in the public domain until proven to be. (That date is from a quirk in the last copyright term revision law.) That’s probably the guideline that the OP’s photographer friend follows. Would I do it? My first instinct was to say no. On second thought, this does fall under personal, noncommercial use. Let your friend decide. If she won’t do it, find a page from 1920-1922 and use that with no second thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/7 "2016-06-22T16:21:12Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > The [archives FAQ says](http://www.nytimes.com/content/help/search/archives/archives.html#archivesq06) that “You may save articles from our Article Archive for personal use. Copying or storing any article for other than personal, noncommercial use requires permission from The New York Times.” This suggests they are OK with you copying it for your personal, noncommercial use. Personally, I would regard the one-time use in a costume to qualify as personal, noncommercial use. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Let your friend decide. If she won’t do it, find a page from 1920-1922 and use that with no second thoughts. If your costume doesn’t reference Lindbergh directly, that time period covers some significant events like the institution of Prohibition and women receiving the right to vote. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/8 "2016-06-22T16:33:10Z")
Get the original on eBay: > **[new york times lindbergh for sale | eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=new%2Byork%2Btimes%2Blindbergh%2Batlantic&_sop=15&_sadis=15&_dmd=1&_osacat=0&_stpos=52222&_ipg=200&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xnew%2Byork%2Btimes%2Blindbergh.TRS0&_nkw=new%2Byork%2Btimes%2Blindbergh&_sacat=0)** > > Get the best deals for new york times lindbergh at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/9 "2016-06-22T17:06:41Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Get the original on eBay: > [New York Times Lindbergh for sale | eBay](http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=new+york+times+lindbergh+atlantic&_sop=15&_sadis=15&_dmd=1&_osacat=0&_stpos=52222&_ipg=200&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xnew+york+times+lindbergh.TRS0&_nkw=new+york+times+lindbergh&_sacat=0) That’s not an original. What they are selling is a photographic print of a scan of the original paper (and only the top half of the front page). If they are selling it commercially and they are a legitimate business, that implies to me that the image itself is probably public domain. The source they list is the National Archives. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/10 "2016-06-24T21:30:12Z")
You guys rock. The link from the NYT archives was good enough to placate the photographer. Thanks for all the replies! ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-reproduce-a-newspaper-page-under-fair-use/758016/11 "2016-06-25T16:20:45Z")
Will we get to see a picture of the final product? (the whole costume, including aforementioned accessory)