I am starting a scanning project

kgruber

kgruber

Final Approach
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Western Washington
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Skywag
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KPWT Bremerton National
There are thousands of old 8x10 glass negatives sitting in my hangar office, awaiting scanning. The youngest is from 1938.

Once I get started in there, I don't think anyone will see me for a year or two. Isn't retirement great!

Any psychological advice is appreciated. Should I try alcoholism?

I wonder if there are any copyright problems in my future. Nobody has touched these for 76 years.
 
I "think" I own them. A postcard company my father worked for in 1938 was throwing them away. He brought them home in his pickup instead.

Does that mean I "own" them?
 
kgruber said:
I "think" I own them. A postcard company my father worked for in 1938 was throwing them away. He brought them home in his pickup instead.

Does that mean I "own" them?
Click to expand...

Pretty much.
 
Depends on what is on the images and how they are used.

If any trademarked things appear in an image, then you may not be able to make money on its use. (Search for the Lone Cypress trademark of Pebble Beach issue.)
 
After looking it up, that Pebble Beach tree sure is a strange trademark case.
 
Best of success with this project. Would you mind adding to your effort and creating a website so we can enjoy these images?
 
Owning the negatives does not mean you own the rights to reproduce, but given the nature of those things the copyright most likely has expired. Those sort of things were generally thought to be ephemeral and even when marked were rarely registered and hence didn't get much of the duration and expired before Sonny Bono went and gave everybody extra time on their unexpired works.

I've got some original artwork from old Radio-Electronics covers (my father-in-law who was managing editor there had recycled them as backing boards for cheap posters he had hanging up). Oddly enough there's someone selling these reproductions of the actual covers (enlarged from the covers) and I'm looking at them and say "Hey, I've got that the original for that one."
 
Publish a few and I'll bet you'll get a letter from Getty Images demanding a high dollar ransom for their use. Whether they actually own them or not Getty is known for trying intimidation to extort a few bucks.
 
The resolution of these plates is amazing. There is a negative of the opening ceremony of the lodge at Multnomah Falls. The Oregon governor is there and a band. But what I find interesting is zooming in on the cars that are parked in the lot. They are completely sharp.
Somewhere in there is also a picture of Charles Lindbergh hanging out of the SOSL, and waiving. I've seen it as a boy and I know it's in one of the boxes....somewhere.
 
I hope you will post a few on this site for us to enjoy. Might find some who would be interested in buying a copy.
 
kgruber said:
There are thousands of old 8x10 glass negatives sitting in my hangar office, awaiting scanning. The youngest is from 1938.

Once I get started in there, I don't think anyone will see me for a year or two. Isn't retirement great!

Any psychological advice is appreciated. Should I try alcoholism?

I wonder if there are any copyright problems in my future. Nobody has touched these for 76 years.
Click to expand...

Mushrooms are better.
 
As far as copyright, no, unless your dad also brought the supporting documents buying the copyright, you don't have any. There are other issues involved in copyright that may allow for your use of the images, I haven't been involved in several decades so I'm not current in exactly what the time frames are on photographic art. There are also issues of release of the images of people and places in the images. The one of Lindbergh would be the one that could possibly bite you, I don't know what his family's take is on it, you may or may not need their blessing if you don't have the original release.

Mind you, this is only for commercial use of the images, for private or editorial use you're fine. If you intend to sell the images, you want to contact a copyright lawyer and see exactly where you stand and what you can do. Even within publication, how you declare the publication can make a difference, ie if you print them in a book and classify it as an art book, you have potential problems. If you declare it as historic images, that is 'fair use'. As with anything legally proscribed, the devil is in the details.
 
As stated above the copyright is a bit interesting -- I would doubt anyone would come after you for copyright infringement, and if they did they would need to prove that they (themselves) took the original images, or prove that their parent/spouse took the images... that would be difficult to prove.

To be clear you /don't/ own the rights to the images... but it would be a legal improbability that anyone could stop you from using them however you want. However, also note that it would be legally improbable for you to successfully sue anyone else who replicates the photos that you released... not that you would anyway (that would make you a dick).

I would say scan the photos in, and then donate all the scans and negatives (maybe keeping your favourite one) to your local history museum, so that everyone can enjoy your work.
 
Here is what happened in a case I'm familiar with.

A photo was selected at random from the web for use as an avatar. There was no copyright mark on said image, but after it had been in use for a couple years Getty Images claimed it was theirs and sent the forum administrator a ridiculously large bill demanding royalties. It was not paid, and the administrator never heard from them again.

They are notorious for extortion tactics.
 
The shame is that many were nitro-cellulose, and decomposed into a gooey mess. I threw those away 30 years ago. But the glass plates are still in great shape.

I now have them off the floor on pallets, the SCSI cord arrived, am waiting for the keyboard. Now I need a grant to pay someone to scan all day for about a year. I figure about 6 minutes per scan. Will be using "Vuescan pro."

It is a good thing that I retired to the desert, where the closest stoplight is 50 miles away. I'll be forced out to the scanner out of sheer boredom!
 
Hi Ken,

Will you have to back light the negatives somehow to bring out the details as you scan them?

Howard
 
Howard,

I got my private in a T-Craft. It was a great experience. The first time I landed on pavement was on my check ride. Scary!

Yes, my scanner has a backlight option.
.

Does this look familiar? The owner was also named "Howard." Maybe we are on to something!

Karl
 
Hi Karl,

The other Parrakeet Howard I know of is Howard Libersky. Did airshows a long while back;-)

Which 'Keet' is that in your pic? I should know, but can't place her........ Maybe a brand new rebuild of one of the Rhinehart Roses?
Oops, found it, Cascades Vintage Aircraft Museum!

Yeah, the T-craft can get interesting sometimes on the hard....probably the pilot. They are sweet airplanes.

We have a box of glass negatives (from the late 1800's?) taken around our town. Lots of people, places and horses. Trying to figure the best way to get them electronic....

Here's a pic of 14843 at the end of August. Wings are on now. Some minor tweaking left to do. Probably wait for warmer wx to fly.
Howard
 

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Well, it is finally started. Each large negative holds many stories, like of this dapper looking man in the crowd of the 1910 Portland Rose Parade.



He is one of thousands at the parade and only 1/1000th of the picture. He is someone's long gone great grandfather.
 
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