I think for pre-war photos you are fairly safe. Back then it was copyrighted for 50 years as explained below so those pre-war ones should now be in the public domain. This explains the rules in the UK: https://www.dacs.org.uk/knowledge-base/f...hotographs
For it to still be in copyright in 1995 it would have to have been taken after 1945. It goes on to mention how things can be revived. It also says that isn't legal advice of course. And I might be reading that wrong! Maybe you can contact those DACS people and talk to someone there?
The rules in the US are of course totally different (and complicated) but this explains when things changed and when things now go into the public domain: https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain
How it all works when someone lives in the UK and posts photos taken there on a server hosted in the US well, that all gets tricky! As an American friend of mine once told me in the US you can sue anyone for anything - but it doesn't mean you're going to win.
Simon
Quote:Photographs made before 1st June 1957
These photographs were originally protected for a period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which they were taken (regardless of whether they were published or not).
If the photograph was still in copyright as of 1 July 1995 however, the period of copyright was extended to the life of the photographer plus 70 years. If copyright protection had expired before 1 July 1995, there was still the chance to "revive" the photograph. An eligible photograph would then be protected by the new term, ie the photographer's life plus 70 years.
For it to still be in copyright in 1995 it would have to have been taken after 1945. It goes on to mention how things can be revived. It also says that isn't legal advice of course. And I might be reading that wrong! Maybe you can contact those DACS people and talk to someone there?
The rules in the US are of course totally different (and complicated) but this explains when things changed and when things now go into the public domain: https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain
How it all works when someone lives in the UK and posts photos taken there on a server hosted in the US well, that all gets tricky! As an American friend of mine once told me in the US you can sue anyone for anything - but it doesn't mean you're going to win.
Simon