# How can I determine if this Bauhaus poster is still under copyright? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-determine-if-this-bauhaus-poster-is-still-under-copyright/563485 "2010-12-09T00:39:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-determine-if-this-bauhaus-poster-is-still-under-copyright/563485/21 "2010-12-09T13:57:08Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Why? It’s entirely possible for something to be public domain in one country and under copyright in another. Some of George Orwell’s essays are public domain in Australia and not in America, for example. Why would German copyright law have relevance on whether it’s public domain in America? Because of the Berne Convention. The US agrees to respect other countries’ copyrights. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-determine-if-this-bauhaus-poster-is-still-under-copyright/563485/22 "2010-12-09T18:18:54Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > The bad news is that the cutoff for absolutely, undoubtedly public domain is [January 1, 1923](http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm), so that just misses it by probably a few months. The good news is that there’s a fair chance it’s public domain anyway. The bad news is that finding that out might be difficult and expensive, and the frogurt is also cursed. > > . But at least you get your choice of toppings, though the toppings do contain Potassium Benzoate (that’s bad). ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-determine-if-this-bauhaus-poster-is-still-under-copyright/563485/23 "2010-12-10T04:57:01Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > But at least you get your choice of toppings, though the toppings do contain Potassium Benzoate (that’s bad). [Homer]Can I go now?[/Homer] ---
**Author:** ![GregH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@GregH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GregH)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-determine-if-this-bauhaus-poster-is-still-under-copyright/563485/24 "2010-12-10T20:22:57Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > The Bauhaus was a German art school in the 1920s-30s ([Bauhaus - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus)). I really like [this poster](http://www.art.com/products/p12792252-sa-i1920583/bayer-bauhaus-asstellung-profile.htm?sorig=cat&sorigid=0&dimvals=0&ui=d664713f66a44f698b84076f3b73e5fa) and I’d like to print it and frame it myself if it’s no longer under copyright protection. The poster is from 1923. > > If it’s not under protection, can I use the .jpg from the [art.com](http://art.com) link or do I need to find a version on some other page? I’m curious to know how you would print this as a poster. At 300dpi, the image would be 2.57cm x 3.81cm. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-determine-if-this-bauhaus-poster-is-still-under-copyright/563485/25 "2010-12-10T21:06:54Z")
> [@electronbee](#): > > I use the term patent loosely. As, the US Patent Office controls the US copyrights as well. No, it absolutely does not. Copyright registrations are administered by the Copyright Office, which is an agency of the Library of Congress, a legislative agency. The Patent and Trademark Office is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, an executive agency. And, in fact, it is incorrect to say that any agency “controls” copyrights in the United States. > [@](#): > > I default to that term since our family friend has used the term interchangeably at times. You should stop listening to your family friend on this topic. Patents, trademarks, and copyrights are very, very different from each other. The terms cannot be used interchangeably. If you want an umbrella term, then try “intellectual property.” > [@](#): > > It’s fairly obvious, given the context of the discussion and my reply, that I was walking about the “copyright” issue. It wasn’t obvious at all. It was confusing. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-determine-if-this-bauhaus-poster-is-still-under-copyright/563485/26 "2010-12-10T21:31:16Z")
> [@GregH](#): > > I’m curious to know how you would print this as a poster. At 300dpi, the image would be 2.57cm x 3.81cm. /graphic designer mode on I was thinking the same thing. Although, the art is graphically simple and clean enough that one could probably take that image, run a Live Trace/Paint in Adobe Illustrator on it to convert it to vector (would take some tweaking of the settings to get it looking good), and then print it at any size – even billboard size. It wouldn’t be perfect when looking at it super close-up, but hanging on the wall, it would look pretty darn decent (and a HECK of a lot better than a very low-res raster image, which is what printing that image at a larger size would get you). /graphic designer mode off – it’s the weekend! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-determine-if-this-bauhaus-poster-is-still-under-copyright/563485.md?page=1)