Who owns this photograph of my grandmother?
If you weren’t paranoid about copyright laws—it can get a tad-bit confusing—you will be after you read this.
Copyright and the old family photo by Judy G. Russell…
If that got you curious you can continue to explore with this index of circulars published by the Copyright Office. They “cover the basics and fundamental concepts of copyright law, highlights of policies and procedures of the Copyright Office, and registration issues for specific categories of works.”
Or here’s the actual code. It contains the text of Title 17 of the United States Code, including all amendments enacted by Congress through March 27, 2020.
Copyright Law of the United States (18MB PDF)…
The photograph is of my grandmother, Grace Whitcomb Ford—my mom Shirley’s mom. She was born in 1899 so I’m guessing this is from the 1910s. She lived in Milford, Connecticut and, as far as I can tell, her family came to the United States right around the time of the American Revolutionary War in the 1770s.
Thanks to Jim Green for pointing us to Russell’s article.
Posted in March 2021 / Chuck Green is the principal of Logic Arts, a design and marketing firm, a contributor to numerous magazines and websites, and the author of books published by Random House, Peachpit Press, and Rockport Publishers. All rights reserved. Copyright 2007-2020 Chuck Green/Logic Arts Corporation. Contact.
Thoughts?