I have a collection of prints resulting from 1 to 1 exchange several years ago.
I would NEVER think of posting them on the Web (even if I know the name of the Author and could put this name in the caption of photo) without asking for and receiving permission to publish...
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many of you, participating in this thread, are messing up some concepts and definitions...
Copyright is NOT transferrable.
Copyright ALWAYS stays with the author of photo or a book or a film, or any other work.
What MAY BE transferrable is so called Publishright.
Publishright (Publishing rights) is not (the same as) Copyright.
If you buy negatives or prints from someone it DOES NOT mean that you actually automatically buy also Publishright.
That Publishright is transferred in full or in part to the current holder (buyer) of the work (negatives, prints, etc,) must be stated clearly in a contract / agreement between the buyer of work (prints, negatives, etc.) and the seller (usually author).
It MUST BE clearly stated in sale/purchase agreement on paper.
If you buy negatives and prints from someone you CANNOT publish them under your own name at any circumstances. Copyrigh always stays with the Author of work.
If the sale/purchase agreement (regarding the negatives, prints, etc.) states that clearly (allows for that) - you may publish these works, but not under your own name.
Whether it is allowed (according to law) to publish under "from the collection [buyer of prints]" - that would have to be consulted with a lawyer.
But in my opinion it would be highly inappropriate and not ethical, not fair to hide the name of the actual Author of the work (the Copyright holder) and "cover" it under the formula "from the collection [name of the buyer of prints]"...
It would be fair to publish such photos under the formula: "Photo by [Author's bame] from the collection of [name of the buyer of prints]". Of course, providing the publisher has the agreement which clearly states that Publishing right is transferred in full or in part (allowing for such publication) to the holder (buyer) of works (negatives, prints).
Buying negatives or prints ALONE (without having a detailed agreement which states how, where and on what conditions or without conditions) certainly and undoubtely DOES NOT give right of the current holder of works (negatives, prints) to publish them.
Some participants in this thread try to "fool" others by a postulate "not to compare books with prints or negatives of photos"... - nothing more inappropriate.
Regarding the problem we are discussing here Publishing right for ship photo prints does not differ at all from publishing books or excerpts.
Buying negatives or prints is certainly NOT ENOUGH to have right to publish them. One must also have a publishing contract or agreement with "grant of rights" clause.
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The "grant of rights" clause in a publishing contract enumerates the specific rights granted by the author to the publisher. Negotiation of this clause continues to increase in importance as more uses are being developed for literary content. The scope of the author's grant may vary widely. For example, the grant of rights could be all inclusive - granting all the exclusive rights and interests in the author's work to the publisher, or the grant could be very narrow - only including a single specific use of the author's work, or the grant could be somewhere between these extremes. The crucial point, as it relates to the publisher, is that the publisher may only exploit those rights that have been specifically granted by the author because any exploitation of a right that was not granted by the author could place the publisher at risk for infringing the author's copyright.
In the event that there is ever a dispute over electronic rights, then the specific inclusion of electronic rights in the grant of rights clause, as well as a future technology clause, may be critical in determining the rights of the publisher and author with respect to the control of all or part of the electronic rights in the literary work.
Recommendation
If the publisher desires to control the electronic rights (this means also posting scans of negatives or prints on a website like shipspotting.com) in the author's work make certain that the publishing contract is very clear regarding the intent of the parties concerning the exploitation of these rights.
