I’ve found it is common for whatever entity issuing the image to have an indemnification for themselves, so if you order an image at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences library, you sign the typical form that states they are not the owner of the copyright and that it is up to the person purchasing the scan to clear the image.
Though, the Academy is odd (so this makes us even!) in that they offer a two tier (many tears for me) system of charing $40 for an image at 300 dpi and $80 for one at 600 dpi, which is of course bullshit as it is a simple setting and they shouldn’t be toggling back and forth with the dpi, just stick to it’s true optical dpi and go from there. And though print uses 300 dpi, it doesn’t give you much room to play with, so really 600 should be standard in the “acquisition” aspect, meaning you should capture the scan at a high DPI, then step it down for your project (you can digitally/artificially increase the resolution of an image—but garbage in, garbage out—it isn’t ideal and really won’t look good, for print anyway.) Conversely, you can actually take a camera into the Archives at the American History Museum in D.C.—which is very surprising as you can take pictures with a professional camera and will get beyond publishable images. The National Portrait Gallery will provide people working on any project, of any kind, to have access to images in their archive for free (gotta love D.C.), but some artists require permission or clearance from the estate before the image is released. Some, like 99 year young artist Miriam Troop will grant permission and not charge, others like the Hirschfeld Foundation (formerly the Margo Feiden Gallery, but she is being sued by the Foundation—now play nice kiddies ;) will give permission with a written contract and payment per image. I think every collector should scan everything they own if feasible. Digital images can get corrupted and one should never assume the poster has been already captured. We “captured” the movie “London After Midnight” for a few decades too, but we see how that worked out… > On Aug 17, 2016, at 11:18 AM, Franc <[email protected]> wrote: > > Glenn --- > > Unless, the "avant garde photographer" assigned the copyright in the photo to > you or you are absolutely sure that the photograph is no longer in copyright, > I'd only provide a quit claim to the scan. > > Franc > [email protected] > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Glenn Taranto <[email protected]> > To: MoPo-L <[email protected]> > Sent: Wed, Aug 17, 2016 10:07 am > Subject: [MOPO] OT: Selling photo jpeg images question > > I've been contacted about a 1920's black and white photo I have of an > actress. It was taken by an avant garde photographer. The person who > contacted me wants to buy a 300 jpeg scan of the photo to use in a book. > > I've never done anything like this before and would like some advice from > those who have. Thanks! > > Glenn > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
