Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2018 December 26

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December 26

Was this image published before 1964?

I have a rather specialized question: was this 1951 Acme Telephoto image of Congressman James G. Fulton with Richard W. Meade's copy of the Lansdowne portrait published before 1964? Acme generally didn't register or renew copyright on its images, so it is likely in the public domain if it was published 1963 or earlier, but as a post-1963 work would still be restricted (see commons:Hirtle chart). It would've been sold to newspapers publishing a story about the painting's return from Spain to the United States. I don't have access to newspaper archives to check—I did find a New York Times story, but I can't access it. Kim Post (talk) 09:53, 26 December 2018 (UTC)

The NYT story is all text, no picture. Do things in the collection of the US House of Representatives have any special copyright status? --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 22:28, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

Sadly not, they claim fair use and say you're on your own: "It is the requester's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the House Collection." Thanks for checking the NYT story. Kim Post (talk) 07:43, 29 December 2018 (UTC)