File:George Maharis 1972.jpg

Summary[edit]

DescriptionGeorge Maharis 1972.jpg	Publicity photograph of George Maharis, taken on or before 1972, proven by another copy. According to the back of one of copies, the play Steambath was supposed to be performed live in Forum Theatre in Summit on Tuesday, April 29, 1975; Maharis was supposed to perform live there. Downloaded from eBay. Item: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-Press-Photo-Actor-George-Maharis-Steambath-/180812274870?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item2a19405cb6 Front: http://pictures.historicimages.net/pictures/_2/1878/1877591.jpg Back: http://pictures.historicimages.net/pictures/_2/1878/1877592.jpg As proven, this photo was used in 1972, according to the back of another copy. No registration found in catalogues of 1972 and 1973.
Date	1972
Source	eBay
Author	Harry Langdon  (1934–)    Alternative names Harry Langdon Jr.; Harry Philmore Langdon Jr. Description American photographer Date of birth 16 December 1934  Work period 1967 –1971  Authority file : Q116776072 RKD: 410212 creator QS:P170,Q116776072

Valued image This image has been assessed under the valued image criteria and is considered the most valued image on Commons within the scope: George Maharis. You can see its nomination here.

Licensing[edit]

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart as well as a detailed definition of "publication" for public art. Note that it may still be copyrighted in jurisdictions that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works (depending on the date of the author's death), such as Canada (50 p.m.a.), Mainland China (50 p.m.a., not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 p.m.a.), Mexico (100 p.m.a.), Switzerland (70 p.m.a.), and other countries with individual treaties. العربية ∙ беларуская (тарашкевіца) ∙ čeština ∙ Deutsch ∙ Ελληνικά ∙ English ∙ español ∙ français ∙ Bahasa Indonesia ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ македонски ∙ Nederlands ∙ português ∙ русский ∙ sicilianu ∙ slovenščina ∙ ไทย ∙ Tiếng Việt ∙ 中文（简体） ∙ 中文（繁體） ∙ +/−

Personality rights Personality rights warning Although this work is freely licensed or in the public domain, the person(s) shown may have rights that legally restrict certain re-uses unless those depicted consent to such uses. In these cases, a model release or other evidence of consent could protect you from infringement claims. Though not obliged to do so, the uploader may be able to help you to obtain such evidence. See our general disclaimer for more information.

Proprietor of this photo[edit]

Supposedly, this is an old circa 1974–5 photo reprint. After text font and content were analyzed, presumably, this photo was sent by Gold/Wilson Public Relations to and received in January 1975 by Field Enterprises, Inc. Other copies of this photo say that Harry Langdon is a photographer of this photo, according to other sources, such as eBay.

Copyright Act of 1909[edit]

At the time of release, permissions of using this photo was granted to the third-party media for editorial uses only. However, this photo was released during the Copyright Act of 1909 and lacks copyright notice, as indicated in all versions of this file, which the 1909 Act required prior to the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988. No efforts to correct this omission were made.

Copyright Act of 1976[edit]

See Chapter 4: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap4.pdf or http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ03.pdf

Other copies may either have copyright notice ("© Harry Langdon") or claims that Harry Langdon photographed this picture via MovieStore.com.[1][2] However, the 1976 Act came into effect, and year, copyright form, and proprietor are required for copyrighted photos. The 1909 Act did not require "year" for photographs.

Year was omitted in those copies, even if year is not required for reproduction. To require copyright protection, this photo must be registered within five years after first publication in circa 1974 or 1975.

No registrations in "Catalog of Copyright Entries" (via Internet Archive) were found:1974,1975, 1976, 1977. No registrations of this photo under search terms "Harry Langdon", "Langdon", or "Langdon, Harry" were found in http://www.copyright.gov, as well.

This photo is seen in Getty Images. However, copyright notice was required for this photo. It was omitted, so effect on commercial opportunities shall be irrelevant.

Analysis of copyright[edit]

All versions of and other unscanned portions of the back of this photo do not display the copyright notice. This photo was released under the Copyright Act of 1909, and, under the 1909 Act, the copyright notice was required and must contain three elements:

1. The symbol © (letter C in a circle); the word “Copyright”; or the abbreviation “Copr.”
2. "The year of first publication. If the work is a derivative work or a compilation incorporating previously published material, the year date of first publication of the derivative work or compilation is sufficient. Examples of derivative works are translations or dramatizations; an example of a compilation is an anthology. The year may be omitted when a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, with accompanying textual matter, if any, is reproduced in or on greeting cards, postcards, stationery, jewelry, dolls, toys, or useful articles."

   This was not required for copyrighted photos published before 1978 under Copyright Act 1909, and omission of date may have been irrelevant to such works. However, Copyright Act of 1976 came into effect and then has applied to copyrighted materials published before 1978. Year has become required for works published before 1978. Consequently, pre-1973 copyrighted photos without a year of copyright and registration and required mandatory deposit into the Copyright Office lost copyright protection and then fell already into the public domain.

3. The name of the copyright owner, an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of owner.

   Example © 2007 Jane Doe.

See http://www.copyright.gov/history/1909act.pdf for older rules that apply to pre-1978 works without required notice. See more at Appendix A of the Copyright Act of 1976: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92appa.pdf.

Film production expert Eve Light Honthaner in The Complete Film Production Handbook, (Focal Press, 2001 p. 211.):

The Professional Photographer's Legal Handbook By Nancy E. Wolff, Allworth Communications, 2007, p. 55:

Creative Clearance-Publicity photos archive copy at the Wayback Machine"