Do copyright laws expire for images from old books?

Question

Hi, I have a few old books dating from the 40s to the 70s. Id like to take some of the images in them and use them on shirts. What does the law say pertaining to this? Is this illegal? Thanks

Answer 1

The pictures probably are copyrighted, and their copyright might be the same as the book, especially if both were created and published at the same time. The author of the pictures might be different than the one who wrote the book. That means that the copyrights might need to have been registered and might not have been registered separately from the writings in the book.

To check, you'd have to contact the Library of Congress. If the book was published before 1976, then registration was required for copyright protection, which means that if the Library does not have a record, then it's not copyrighted. But they could be, and probably are.

The earliest they will enter the public domain if they are currently copyrighted is 95 years from the copyright date, so in the 2030s for the books from the 40s. That date could be extended further if Disney makes another push to extend copyright protection so it can keep its grip on Mickey (as they did for the Sonny Bono Act).

Answer 2

Books even from the 1940's are not old enough to be considered public domain unless special circumstances apply. such as a subsequent registration renewal was not made, was printed without the copyright claim at the front or other technical reasons that don't apply in general. Most uses of other people's copyrighted work without permission is an infringement and you could be held liable for damages. Commercial exploitation is almost never excepted as fair use.

If you are artistic, there is nothing to prevent you from taking inspiration from prior art and drawing your own creative version to put on shirts. That is ok, the copyrights do not apply to ideas but rather to mechanical reproduction. However if the images are of recognizable people or commercial trademarks, then other considerations apply.