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Enamel sign - no copyright I assume


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I0000Olxx1oj3CxA.jpg

 

I took this picture at an auction sale but as it essentially just a copy my assumption is that I do not own copyright.

 

My understanding is that the design is out of copyright in UK:

 

"Copyright in the typographical arrangement of a published edition expires at the end of the period of 25 years from the end of the calendar year in which the edition was first published."

 

I've come across at least three people using this image to sell small replica signs on Amazon and Ebay. 

 

I've overlain my pic ( large) with part of the Amazon advert of the seller.

 

So is there anything I can do about this? Or just forget it?


 

Edited by geogphotos
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  • geogphotos changed the title to Enamel sign - no copyright I assume

Are you thinking tht they just copied an unwatermarked thumbnail or did they buy it? Do you think that the one you photographed at the auction was an original or a modern reproduction, and can you be sure? The distressed 'faux' rust at the edges looks a little suspicious to me, the same pattern seems to repeat around the edge and if I look online I see similar ones that differ only in the position of this effect.

 

Is it similar to photographing an album cover, from the Sixties say, but not in context, with no border? I was under the impression that we weren't supposed to do this but I can find them on Alamy without looking very hard.

Edited by Harry Harrison
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For sale at Amazon; Ebay; Etsy and Aliexpress. Google finds around 160 outlets. So definitely modern. And probably made in China. One claims it's made in the UK though.

It looks like yours is the only one on Alamy.

 

wim

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Posted (edited)

I do see lots on sale but the one I highlighted has all the same little scratches and scuffs as 'mine' - not only the rust look around the edges but every tiny mark is identical except for the screw holes on mine. But all those marks could be on a mass produced version and that is what I've photographed!  I thought I was copying an original but probably not.

 

This seller is only offering a very small size so I wondered if they had taken it off my website.

 

I don't have any licence for this image.

 

With my high-res version and no ability to restrict usage ( no copyright) I wonder if it would be wise to take it off Alamy?

 

But on the other hand there are so many modern copies out there that not worth bothering either way and more likely than not my original is also a copy.

 

Maybe I should join them on Ebay selling metallic prints but offer large size?

 

Harry, if my extract about copyright in typographical arrangement is correct then 60s albums and book covers are out of copyright.

 

Thanks to both of you for your comments.

Edited by geogphotos
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