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I came across a number of recently uploaded pictures that are scans of professionally produced post cards.

Example:

I wonder if it has been verified, that the copyright-disclaimer stated by the uploader is legally valid.

From my experience over at Wikipedia and Wikimedia-Commons, those uploaded pictures would infringe the copyright of the original photographer (or "author") and/or the publishing company.
The age of these shots should be way too young to allow these pictures to be in the public domain.
Copyright-duration varies by country, but in common sense "100 years" is a safe waiting time.

I strongly suggest to clarify the situation, and - unless it postively can be proved that keeping these shots is legal under all involved country´s legislations - removal of the pictures should be considered.
-HT

Hi HT,

The uploader contacted us prior to setting up the account. He has a sizeable collection of vintage postcards, the youngest of which are still older than 30 years.

Under German legislation, the digital reproduction of printed images is legal as long as it is not done for commercial purposes. As the intent of the uploader is to exhibit his collection without financial interests, this would be allowed under German copyright law.

Internationally, copyright regulations vary. Usually, copyright is expected to have expired latest 25 years after the copyright owner either passed away or went out of business.

From what I have checked, none of the companies that published these postcards seems to be still in business.

Finally, according to our Terms of Use, it is the uploader's responsibility to make sure that no copyright is violated by uploading a photo. Since I know for a fact that the uploader has actively addressed and is very much aware of this issue, I would assume that uploading these photos does not infringe any copyrights.

Of course, if anybody holds a valid copyright on any of the images and does not want the uploader to display them here, we will gladly consider removing them.

Cheers,
Zak

I had the same concerns as HT when I first saw these images appearing in the database. I figured the legalities would have satisfied one way or another or else they wouldn't still be in the database.

Zak wrote:Since I know for a fact that the uploader has actively addressed and is very much aware of this issue, I would assume that uploading these photos does not infringe any copyrights.

Good enough for me.

It would be a shame for NAS to get entangled in some sort of messy legal issue. It would also be a shame if these postcards were to remain unseen by the rest of the world. I'm glad NAS can host them.

Thanks for clarifying the situation. Good to read that the issue had been thought over before uploading the pictures.

One aspect:
All the picture in question show dates in FEB-2015 as "Photo taken".
Would it be more appropriate to change this to the actual year the picture was taken / the postcard was published (where available) ?
-HT

I imagine that the site's picking up an EXIF date generated by the scanner. That can be overridden manually but it's all too easy to forget. If it'd help the uploader, I could disable that functionality for the specific account - they'd then be forced to pick a date manually.

It'll be a while, though, because I've just had to reinstall windows

On a personal note, I am very glad to see these pictures in the database. There are only so many side-on shots you can take of a modern airliner and these pictures add some welcome variety.

Was wondering the same thing when I saw the uploads, but it's indeed very nice to see that collection

I love, love, love them. I remember an old National Geographic from the late 60s that had a 2-page ad featuring a 707 in flight and describing Boeing's leadership in building airplanes. Loved it.

Lucas wrote:I love, love, love them.

Me too, particularly the Swiss CV-990 shots. I watched that aircraft rot at PMI until it was cut up by the scrap man

Anyway, glad we have everything covered, and that we've gained a welcome addition to add some variety to the site

Me again ...

Local bookstore "Schmorl & von Seelfeld" of Han(n)over was taken over by bookstore Hugendubel of Munich several years ago.
If Schmorl, as they were called locally, indeed were the copyright owners, it is to be assumed, that these rights have been passed on to Hugendubel. Might be worth to check in order to avoid any legal issue here, as after only 43 years the picture will not be in the public domain yet.
-HT