FOBO: Copyright Law and Images from Old Books

A short summary with links and references.

Photographs published before Jan 1st 1957 got at most 50 years of copyright protection after the death of the author (actually up to the end of the 50th calendar year), provided that the author (artist) was a "qualified person." This means they had to be a British citizen or have residency in Britain (or the republic of Ireland), or were an incorporated company operating in the UK or Ireland.

Photographs published before 1957 got 50 years of protection after publication, and so are out of copyright as long as the author was a UK citizen and the book was published in the UK and not simultaneously in other countries.

However, photographs that were still in copyright in 1995 had their copyright duration extended to life+70 years; photographs that had been in copyright in another country had their copyright revived. So the photo must be taken by a British citizen in the UK, or not have been published outside the UK.

Engravings were from 1911 given life of the engraver plus 50 years. In 1995 this was extended to live plus 70 years. If the engraving was published posthumously, it's 50 years after publication.

1988 law

The question which provision applies to a work shall be determined by reference to the facts immediately before commencement; and expressions used in this paragraph which were defined for the purposes of the 1956 Act have the same meaning as in that Act.

(2) Copyright in the following descriptions of work continues to subsist until the date on which it would have expired under the 1956 Act

(a) literary, dramatic or musical works in relation to which the period of 50 years mentioned in the proviso to section 2(3) of the 1956 Act (duration of copyright in works made available to the public after the death of the author) has begun to run;

(b) engravings in relation to which the period of 50 years mentioned in the proviso to section 3(4) of the 1956 Act (duration of copyright in works published after the death of the author) has begun to run;

(d) published sound recordings and sound recordings made before 1st June 1957;

(e) published films and films falling within section 13(3)(a) of the 1956 Act (films registered under former enactments relating to registration of films).

So we need to look at the 1956 act:

1956 Act

(3) Where an original artistic work has been published, then, subject to the provisions of this Act, copyright shall subsist in the work (or, if copyright in the work subsisted immediately before its first publication, shall continue to subsist) if, but only if,—

(a)the first publication of the work took place in the United Kingdom, or in another country to which this section extends, or

(b) the author of the work was a qualified person at the time when the work was first published, or

(4) Subject to the last preceding subsection, copyright subsisting in a work by virtue of this section shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the calendar year in which the author died, and shall then expire:

Provided that—

(a) in the case of an engraving, if before the death of the author the engraving had not been published, the copyright shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the calendar year in which it is first published;

(b) the copyright in a photograph shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the calendar year in which the photograph is first published, and shall then expire.