Legal Question in Intellectual Property in North Dakota

Photo from 1941

I havea photograph of my grandparents on their wedding day (apr. 1941). For a memorial service, I wanted to enhance the photo color and quality, as well as resize the image. I took it to a photo editing establishment and was denied service due to copyright law. There is no identifiable marks of who took the photo, nor any copyright marks. I am not intending to sell any portion of the photo, and I am positive the photographer is deceased and the establishment that might have held the rights doesn't exist anymore. I tried to find definable copyright statutes and other laws that would tell me what I am allowed to do with the photo, but can not find any specific answers. Is my photo void of copyright? If not, how do I obtain rights?


Asked on 8/17/07, 1:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lawrence Graves Coolidge & Graves PLLC

Re: Photo from 1941

You're never going to be able to navigate the legalities, so have two options: (1) try another photo service, or (2) take a high-quality digital photo of the image and do the editing yourself (alternately, ask a tech-savvy friend to help). The photo processing world is running scared about contributory infringement, and with state-of-the-art editing software even rank amateurs are creating images that they can't get developed at their local WalMart because the overly-cautious clerk suspects that the image was done professionally. Usually it means waiting for the next clerk to come on duty and trying again. But in your case, play the sympathy card and I expect that someone will want to help.

Best wishes,

LDWG

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Answered on 8/20/07, 11:55 am


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