Fw 190 in colour

[George Hopp]

"I think most of the WWII photos are copyright free."

I do believe it's a little more narrow than that. It was explained in another thread that photos published by the Axis powers are free of copyright. US photos are copyright, but when you print them all you need to do is acknowledge that copyright -- Canada is the same. For British and French photos, I believe you pay to buy the photos and more to use them.

Perhaps a Legal Beagle in the group could give us a more detail on the use/publication of wartime photos.

[Jean-Yves Lorant]

Hi George,

"I think most of the WWII photos are copyright free."

No so easy...The ECPA-D statute is not comparable with that of Bundesarchiv-Bildarchiv in Koblenz. The original PK-negatives preserved in the old fort of Ivry-sur-Seine in France were taken to the germans by french troops during the winter 1944-45. This make the difference. As for all war prizes belonging to the french Defence archive the copyright of these photographs is - according to the french law - inalienable. A "specialised" Gendarmerie team is currently working to make apply this law - some authors learned it with their costs.
All the best, George, and please accept my apologizes for my poor home-made english !

[George Hopp]

Thanks for that Jean-Yves. And, please believe me when I tell you that your English is far better than my French.

All the best,
George

[Graham Boak]

I would appreciate knowing how George is so certain that the photos have been restored to their original colours, not merely those that happen to look good to the "restorer".


But they do look good, yes.

[Franek Grabowski]

Jean-Yves
Frankly, I do not care about the French law. I am no French citizen and it does not apply to me. It is a fact that PK negatives were taken by French but they did not acquire any copyrights. If they claim any copyrights, they are frauds to anyone but perhaps French, because only holder of it was a German ministry of propaganda or similar institution. It makes an interesting question, by the way, does the Time hold any copyright for Hugo Jaeger collection?

George
Yes, you are right. By the way, I have heard somewhere (perhaps on this board) that according to HMSO, any photos taken at RAF bases during the war are free for publishing, as their protection time expired.