Author Topic: What to do with deceased user's images  (Read 2891 times)

Offline Angelgreat

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What to do with deceased user's images
« on: July 26, 2023, 04:02:54 PM »
Hello, so you know how many people upload photos of different vessels here? Well, after a user passes away, the images stay up indefinitely. Do they stay up until the copyright expires, so could the admins release a dead user's images to the public domain? There's plenty of ship photos from the 50's 60's and 70's that were uploaded by now deceased users here?
Angelgreat was here. :)

Offline pieter melissen

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Re: What to do with deceased user's images
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2023, 07:08:10 PM »
That is a good question, and when the site started now almost 20 years ago, possibly nobody considered that.

Now this site comes under British copyright laws, and as I am not British I am probably less qualified to talk about it.

What I could say is that normal practice seems to be that the photos stay on the site, where sometimes a note has been attached that the photographer deceased, but not always.

I assume that the correct policy is to keep the images on site, until people dealing with the estate request these to be taken off, but I welcome any comment from members who have been dealing with this issue in the past.




Offline Tom Walker

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Re: What to do with deceased user's images
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2023, 09:01:20 PM »
I'm not 100% sure but I think UK copyright exists for about 70 years after the death of the original copyright owner, unless it was sold on or whatever.  As the site has been in existence for about 20 years and assuming the images uploaded were by live copyright owners at the time then that would mean they still have at least approximately 50 years to run before the question of automatic public domain can be considered.

Best regards to all,

Tom

Offline pieter melissen

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Re: What to do with deceased user's images
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2023, 07:39:00 AM »
Hi Tom, it is all about who will claim the rights of a deceased photographer. Was there a statement in the will what to do with these rights? Based on this I might be tempted to put something about that in my will.

jimmcquarrie

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Re: What to do with deceased user's images
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2023, 07:42:41 AM »
Lots of B/W pics posted Taken by Grandfathers etc

Offline Tom Walker

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Re: What to do with deceased user's images
« Reply #5 on: July 27, 2023, 03:33:04 PM »
I inherited a few thousand black and whites (mainly of ships in the South West of England taken in the 50s-70s) from my Dad when he died and I have had a few of them published and still credited under his name since his passing.  I think of it as a tribute to his memory.  As the current owner of those negatives/photographs I suppose I could have some claim to their copyright but prefer to ensure the actual photographer is still remembered.

Best regards

Tom
« Last Edit: July 27, 2023, 03:35:54 PM by Tom Walker »

Offline pieter melissen

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Re: What to do with deceased user's images
« Reply #6 on: July 27, 2023, 03:57:30 PM »
Hi Tom, that is exactly as I would hope such things develop. Can I assume that all the shots you inherited were his?
We had a case in the past, well before any website existed, when the founder and owner of Airphoto Malacca, Peter Foxley died and photos and negatives were sold to quite a number of different people, also members of the site. They occasionally pop-up here and most of the time the credits do go to Airphoto. Personally I have a number of photos bought from the late Alex Duncan (which I traded for negatives during the eighties and shots made by the late Keith Byass. Yet I am not considering posting any of these here, since I have no certainty that I will not breach copyright. 
« Last Edit: July 28, 2023, 09:39:45 AM by pieter melissen »

Offline Tom Walker

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Re: What to do with deceased user's images
« Reply #7 on: July 27, 2023, 09:16:43 PM »
Hi Pieter,

Yes they were all his, he was a professional photographer from about 1933 to 1976 ish in Devon, England with a break for wartime service in the Army Film and Photographic Unit based at Pinewood.

Best Regards

Tom

 

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