How long does the copyright on photographs that have been published in a magazine run?

Question

Just recently I was able to purchase a collection of magazines that covered news and topics of interest for Arabian Horse breeders and owners.  The magazines date from 1950 through 1959, so they're all about 50 years old.

I would like to scan some of the photographs that are in the magazines and put them up on a website, but I don't want to violate copyrights.  FWIW, the specific magazine (Arabian Horse News) is no longer in business, and the website is non-commercial in nature, purely informative.  I would like to scan some of the photos in the magazines and post them to so people can see the horses that are pictured.

Would this run afoul of copyrights on the photographs?  Some of the photos have photographer credits, and were presumably taken by professional photographers, but a lot of the photographs are obviously amateur photographs, given the quality, and are uncredited.

Can I make scans and post them on this website?

Thanks!

Ansell A · Accepted Answer

Basically it is life plus 70 years. 

That is life of the photographer and the vast majority of the time photographs in magazines are copyright of the photographer not the publisher (there obviously are exceptions).

You have to assume anything taken in the 50's is still under copyright. But depending on the usage you may well be able to use them.

Have a chat to a copyright lawyer rather than us photographers and wannabes on here.

Siddles · Answer

There's no simple answer to this one I'm afraid, although I would say the chances of an amateur photographer (or their surviving relatives) discovering and complaining about violation of copyright of an image published in a 50-or-so-year-old magazine are minimal. If both the magazines and the website on which you intend to display the images are published in the USA, you may find the following guide helpful:

http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

Credit should always be given to the photographer if known, and to the original publisher of anonymous photos.

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How long does the copyright on photographs that have been published in a magazine run?

2 Answers