Making Copies Of A Photo

[malagabob]

The wife took a very old photo, 1940s probably maybe older.of her father to a high street photo copying shop. It’s a one off. She wanted to get copies to give to her sisters. It’s been professionals done at a studio. Permanently fixed to a card folder.
The member of staff said she couldn’t copy it? Wasn’t allowed to.
The wife being the wife didn’t question it further.
When she told me I said maybe it’s copyright. Do you think I’m correct.
I know I could do it myself by scanning.

[emmie]

can't see why it would be copyright, i would scan it and save yourself the money it would cost to get it done.

[barry1010]

Yes, definitely copyright.

[barry1010]

When it comes to photography, the photographer has the exclusive right to reproduce their photographs. This means that it is unlawful for others to do anything with these photographs without the photographer’s permission. This includes making prints, copying, scanning, photocopying, emailing, publicly displaying or creating “derivative works” of the photos.

https://www.organizingphotos.net/scan-photo-legally-copyright-fair-use/

[William51]

I cannot see why the staff member said that, it may have been that she was not experienced enough. There should be no reason not to get it copied.

[10ClarionSt]

Old photographs that were taken in a studio, generally had the photographers' name on the back. If there was a name on the back, that is probably the reason the assistant refused to copy it. Just scan it yourself, Bob. Should be ok.

[douglas9401]

Back in the day our local Klick shop got round the problem by getting customers to present things like school photos which were copyright protected with a piece of paper loosely attached to the back of the snap to cover any printed warnings.

[Buenchico]

^^^ The staff in shops aren't expected to know the intricacies of the law, William. They're simply told that it's illegal for them to make copies of any materials without the consent of the copyright holder. That's why, for example, you can (say) have a birthday cake made with a photograph of your dog on it but you can't have one made with a picture of Mickey Mouse on it.

Any photograph taken in the latter part of the 1940s (from 01/01/1945 onwards) is protected by copyright until 70 years have passed after the death of the photographer. So a photograph from that period, which was taken near to the end of the photographer's life, might no longer be subject to copyright but most photos from that period will still be. A photograph taken before 1945 wouldn't normally still be protected by copyright but, in some cases, it's possible for copyright to be 'revived', so the situation isn't totally clear cut.

Expecting shop assistants to be able to work out the date that a photograph was taken, as well as knowing when the photographer died, is clearly not practical. So they're simply instructed not to copy any photographs unless the person presenting that photograph to them is either the copyright holder or someone who has the consent of the copyright holder to make such a copy.

[Buenchico]

https://www.dacs.org.uk/knowledge-base/factsheets/copyright-in-photographs

[barry1010]

Every company that provides this service should refuse to make a copy of that photo. This is from the Asda Photo Centre terms and conditions:

"You agree only to send to us images in which you own the copyright (e.g. you took the photographs or they were taken with your permission with your camera) or images which you are authorised to send to us. You agree not to infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party.

13.5 You acknowledge that all copyright, trademarks and all other intellectual property rights in any part of the OPC or any material supplied as part of the OPC belongs to us or our licensors. You acknowledge that you are permitted to use the OPC only as expressly authorised by us pursuant to these Terms. You are not allowed to remove any copyright, trade mark or any other intellectual property notices contained in the original material from any material copied or printed off from the web site. Should you use any copyright material you will need to provide written permission from the photographer to show that you own the copyright before the images will be handed over."

[Khandro]

I take it you don't have Photoshop?
If not do you know anyone who has?
If so give it to them & they can scan it and improve it's quality & print off as many as you want,

and to hell with this copyright nonsense.

[Maydup]

Scan it and then upload it to somewhere like Snapfish if you want it printed nicely, or buy photographic paper and print yourself.

[malagabob]

Thanks all.