File:Robert Johnson.png

Robert_Johnson.png(265 × 377 pixels, file size: 65 KB, MIME type: image/png)

Summary edit

Non-free media information and use rationale true for Robert Johnson
Description

The Hook Brothers studio portrait of American musician Robert Johnson in a hat and pinstriped suit holding a 1928 Gibson L-1 acoustic guitar. According to the 2019 biography Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson, the photograph was taken in Memphis, Tennessee in 1936, shortly before his first recording sessions at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas (see Robert Johnson recordings § Sessionography).[1]

Source

Copyright © 1989 Delta Haze Corporation.[2]


The photograph was taken in 1936 by the Hooks Brothers Photographers studio, owned by Henry and Robert Hooks, located on Beale Street in Memphis.[3] In 1974, Johnson's half-sister Carrie Thompson entered a copyright transfer agreement with Stephen LaVere in which she represented herself as Johnson's sole and closest heir.[4] She agreed to transfer to LaVere "[a]ll of her right, title and interests, including all common law and statutory copyrights, in and to ... a photograph of Robert L. Johnson taken by Hooks Brothers Photography in Memphis, Tennessee, and showing Johnson in a sitting position with a guitar running diagonally across his body ..."[5]

The photo was first published in 1989 in the journal 78 Quarterly (Vol. 1, No. 4) with LaVere's permission.[6] It was most notably featured as the cover artwork for the 1990 release of The Complete Recordings, distributed by Columbia Records under license from LaVere.[7] In a series of subsequent court decisions, the Mississippi court system identified Claud Johnson of Crystal Springs, Mississippi as Robert Johnson's sole heir and determined that he was entitled to royalties from LaVere's 1974 contract. Claud Johnson died on June 30, 2015;[8] upon his death, the interest passed to his heirs, including Michael Johnson.[9]

Article

Robert Johnson

Portion used

Full photo.

Low resolution?

Yes; resized to the low resolution of 0.1 megapixels advised by WP:IMAGERES.

Purpose of use

As the primary means of visually identifying the subject, Robert Johnson, as the most famous and representative photographic portrait of the artist, out of the few known to exist.

Replaceable?

The photograph is not replaceable by a free alternative. As of 2024, only three confirmed photographs of Johnson have been widely published.[10] By definition, any undiscovered photograph that may emerge would have been unpublished until its discovery and, thus, would be subject to copyright upon publication, unless any such photo is published for the first time at least 120 years after its date of creation (e.g., an unpublished photograph created in 1936 will irrevocably enter the public domain on January 1, 2057, and any subsequent publication will not change its public domain status); see the Hirtle Chart).

Other information

Notes

  1. ^ Conforth & Wardlow 2019, p. 303 (fn. 9).
  2. ^ Anon. (n.d.). "Legacy". DeltaHaze.com. Delta Haze Corporation. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  3. ^ Conforth & Wardlow 2019, p. 44.
  4. ^ Thomas 2009, p. 3 (fn. 21).
  5. ^ Thomas 2009, p. 19.
  6. ^ Calt & Wardlow 1989, p. 40.
  7. ^ DiGiacomo, Frank (October 1, 2008). "Searching for Robert Johnson". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  8. ^ Anon. (July 1, 2015). "Claud Johnson, son and sole heir of legendary bluesman, dies at 83". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  9. ^ Broom, Brian (February 14, 2020). "Blues legend Robert Johnson: Family still paying legal fees 20 years after estate settled". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  10. ^ Anderson, Annye C. (May 20, 2020). "Exclusive First Look at New Photograph of Blues Legend Robert Johnson". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 4, 2021.

References

Fair useFair use of copyrighted material in the context of Robert Johnson//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Johnson.pngtrue

Licensing edit

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current17:52, 11 August 2023Thumbnail for version as of 17:52, 11 August 2023265 × 377 (65 KB)EurekaLott (talk | contribs)Reverted to version as of 06:03, 7 July 2018 (UTC)
23:54, 10 August 2023No thumbnail1,920 × 2,774 (2.23 MB)Loganburde (talk | contribs)larger version
06:03, 7 July 2018No thumbnail265 × 377 (65 KB)Opencooper (talk | contribs)fix thumbnail gamma
07:02, 23 December 2017No thumbnail265 × 377 (62 KB)Theo's Little Bot (talk | contribs)Reduce size of non-free image (BOT - disable)
21:09, 25 August 2007No thumbnail300 × 427 (84 KB)Anetode (talk | contribs)Robert Johnson Studio Portrait Hooks Bros., Memphis, circa 1935 ©1989 Delta Haze Corporation {{fairusein|Robert Johnson (musician)|Blues}} Rat.: There are only two known photographs of Robert Johnson, both were registered for copyright upon initial pu
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