# Picture Copyrights **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-copyrights/193161 "2003-08-05T18:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PurplePerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PurplePerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurplePerson)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-copyrights/193161/1 "2003-08-05T18:26:49Z")
I have a friend who is a picture framer. (not me, and yes I am a picture framer). She wants to cut pictures out of old magazines, frame them and sell them. I don’t think this is legal. We are having a debate and need to have an answer. Does it matter if it is professional art or photos or art by non-professionals? What about out of an art printbook where the art was once for sale? She says if she only charges for her framing and says the picture is free, it is legal. We know that we could sell an old magazine at a flea market, even if the magazine has famous art in it. She will decide what to do according to the experts. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-copyrights/193161/2 "2003-08-05T18:33:11Z")
Those pictures would be copyrighted by the magazine that printed them. In some cases, the copyright is retained by the photographer, who grants permission, either directly or indirectly, for the magazine to print them. In either case, they are not public domain. ---
**Author:** ![PurplePerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PurplePerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurplePerson)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-copyrights/193161/3 "2003-08-05T18:39:53Z")
Thank you. Lets keep the opinions coming. I need an arsenal. Isn’t the copyright law 70 years? . . . . from the magazine date or the art date? ---
**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:** [August 5, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-copyrights/193161/4 "2003-08-05T19:00:43Z")
All publications issued before 1923 are in the public domain. Those from 1923 through 1949 needed to renew their copyrights after 28 years or go into the public domain at the end of that time. It can be exceedingly difficult to determine whether any individual issue of a magazine was renewed or not. I’ve paid the Library of Congress to do a search on this (it used to be only $20 per search) and even they couldn’t figure it out. Best, therefore to err on the side of caution. [This page](http://www.authorslawyer.com/c-term.shtml) is full of lawyerly caveats but has all the pertinent information. In short, you can resell the whole magazine legally. But cutting out a picture still in copyright and using it in commerce is undoubtedly illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-copyrights/193161/5 "2003-08-05T19:43:27Z")
As **Exapno Mapcase** said, any periodical originally published in the U.S. with a proper copyright notice from 1950 forward is still under copyright. Even if the periodical has ceased publication and/or the publisher has folded, the publisher’s assets, including copyrights, always transfer to _somebody_ (often a creditor). Copyright renewals registered from 1978 to the present are available [on-line](http://www.copyright.gov/records/) at the U.S. Copyright Office. But copyrights that were first registered before 1950 came up for renewal before 1978. Thus, you must turned to the U.S. Copyright Catalog in book form. The U.S. Copyright Catalog is available at many federal depository libraries across the U.S. A list of federal depository libraries can be found [here](http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/locators/findlibs/). Those that are designated “regional” are larger and are more likely to have the Copyright Catalog. For periodicals published 1923-1949, look in the Copyright Catalog issued 28 years after the work was copyrighted, to see if its copyright was renewed. There is a separate section of the Catalog for renewals, and I believe they are indexed under both the title of the work and the name of the copyright claimant. Even if the periodical’s copyright was not renewed, elements of the periodical may have their own underlying copyrights. As **Q.E.D.** said, authors, illustrators or photographers may have retained the copyright to their works. And advertisements usually have their own copyrights, belonging to the advertiser (look for a notice in the ad). The nameplate of the magazine itself may be a registered trademark, so beware there. With all that being said, I can say from experience with the U.S. Copyright Catalog that publishers seldom renewed the copyrights on periodicals originally published before 1950. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-copyrights/193161/6 "2003-08-07T19:58:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > In short, you can resell the whole magazine legally. But cutting out a picture still in copyright and using it in commerce is undoubtedly illegal. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-copyrights/193161/7 "2003-08-07T20:56:19Z")
With all due respect, **Exapno Mapcase** and **Walloon** , the issue in question here has nothing to do with public domain or the term of copyrights. If no copies or reproductions are being made, the copyright holder’s rights \* to a particular copy\* end after the first sale. The doctrine of the Right of First Sale is the governing law here, as expressed in [Sec. 109a of the US Copyright Act:](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/109.html): > [@](#): > > \*\*Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106(3), the owner of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy or phonorecord. \*\* If no copies or reproductions are made, you are free to modify, frame and sell magazine pictures. The law says you bought 'em, you can sell 'em, so long as they are legal copies.