Is it a "company's policy" or a federal law that allows that?

Question

buisness to say no to making a copy of a photo that is over 50 years old, because it looks like it could have been taken by a professional? Is there a fine? A friend of mine said there is no law that it is just " company's policy" not to copy. I disagree.

Answer 1

Copyright law makes it illegal to copy any work by an author that could be copyrighted without a release.

Because of that, photo shops and wal-marts and other places that scan things refuse to copy old family photos because traditionally photographers held the negatives and charged a lot to make copies of the photos.

Therefore, companies that could be sued, have policies that say that if the photo is over 75 years old, then its probably safe because the copyright law provides for copyrights to expire up to 75 years after the author's death.

Unfortunately, photo shops process film and digital photos and make copies all of the time. How do they know the photos were made by the people bringing the film or discs in, or someone else?

Its a real stupid policy. But to answer your question its company policies in fear of federal copyright laws.

Solution: Get a nice hi-res scanner or color laser all in one, and make as many copies as you like.

Answer 2

No, there is no fine. The only thing that can happen is if the photo was taken by a professional and that professional still has the copyright on it, they can bring charges. The government is very unlikely to make a fuss over one copy, especially if it isn't for monetary gain, but the photographer can still sue the person that makes the copy. It would be hard to prove damages in such a lawsuit though.

Answer 3

If a photo is copyrighted, it means you can't legally make a copy without permission of the copyright holder. That's a federal law. There's no fine, but the copyright holder could sue someone who makes a copy without permission (or payment). A company might forbid copying photos just in case it is copyrighted even if it doesn't know for sure though, because it can be very hard to find out if it is copyrighted and who holds the rights.

Answer 4

Copyright and trademark law typically protects print material for a defined period of time. i am not familiar with how long that protected time is, but the penalty to a copier (you) for profiting from a copy-written piece of material depends on what the copyright holder can get awarded in a lawsuit. if there is noone around to sue, there will be no penalty. If there is no profit to the copier, perhaps you can argue "fair use" of the material, depending on how you use it. The reason that your company has the policy in place is probably to avoid joint and several liability with you for the copyright infringement. Rather than suing you for the copying, the copyright holder would rather sue your company because they have deep pockets and will be able to pay the big bucks. this is the reason why the recording industry has started considering suing universities for the music downloading rather than suing broke students. If you do not intend to profit from the image, copy away, but be sure you understand the rules before risking breaching someone's legitimate copyright....

Answer 5

Sounds like company policy to me. Photographers make copies and touch up photo's all of the time.
If the piece being copied has to run through the copy machine, this policy could have been put into effect to prevent jamming of the machine. Shouldn't make any difference on a flat bed copier/scanner.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

If you want a company to make a professional photo, not merely a photocopy on a office machine, and if that photo was copyrighted by the lab ( commom on professonal photos) there are Federal copyright laws that restrict the reproduction of it.

Answer 8

Professionals own the reproduction rights but 50 years is probably expired (unless it is a really famous photo and the family owns revenue rights or something )
If you are Not going to try and sell the copies , just have something for you . . .
Go to a self service place to get yourself a copy.

Answer 9

I don't know about the law, but I went to Kinko's and made my own very good copies of some old professional photos from childhood. You should just try that.

Answer 10

No federal law..that is strictly company policy to prevent lawsuits or potential for them.