B. Photographic Copyright

Photographic copyright is a complicated affair illogical, time consuming and often impossible to establish satisfactorily. The law is that photographic copyright for photographs taken before 1 June 1957 runs for fifty years from the year in which the photograph was taken, whether it was published or not; for photographs taken after 1 June 1957 it runs for fifty years from the year in which the image is published. 'Published' in this context is defined as multiple copies being made and issued in printed form to the public, not merely as a print being made from the negative. Thus many photographs will never go into copyright; one taken in 1958 may not be published until 2003, when copyright will be established. Often, of course, it is impossible to discover if the photograph has been published at all. One can only contact as many likely sources as possible then, if the ownership is still in doubt, add to any published work the magic formula 'every effort has been made . . .' and be prepared for the copyright owner to emerge from the woodwork. Do not, however, use the magic formula without making some efforts to find the copyright owner; the law can demand some written proof that efforts have been made

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