Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

copyright purchase

I recently purchased some

photographic film negatives from a

newspaper that were shot in the

1930s-1960 range. coming from the

newspaper i am guessing they are

works for hire and that the paper

owns the copyright and not the

photographers. by purchasing the

original negatives have i also

purchased the copyright?


Asked on 6/16/08, 2:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gordon Firemark Law Offices of Gordon P. Firemark

Re: copyright purchase

Nope. You purchased the negatives... not the right to use the images, or even to make prints. "Work-for-hire" is a more complicated analysis, and much depends on whether the photographers were freelance, or employees of the newspaper. In any case, you need assignments of copyright if you plan to exploit these negatives.

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Answered on 6/25/08, 2:49 am


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