And for the most part, this was easy.
But not so for the early 20thC.
I was having to track down the creators' heirs. (When I finally did, btw, they always gave permission freely - people are nice).
But the image for the cover was still an issue.
Which meant that his work had ONE more year until the copyright expired.
And finding his heirs 69 years after his death was proving tricky.
So there's me, ordering a copy of her will to try to track down her descendants!
It expects you to become a private investigator
Because, in reading over the laws one final time, I spotted something. At the time the image was made, copyright was not automatically vested in the creator. (No longer the case btw)
So the artist's heirs may not have been the rightsholders anyway. If, that is, the RSA had paid for the work.
Crisis averted.
But I was just lucky here. Really, the whole system stinks.
For the benefit of users, creators, and their heirs, the system needs reform. More here:
tenentrepreneurs.org/blog/burnt-by-…
Or, in some cases, abusing them. On that note, why is Crown Copyright so long? (120 years!!!) Should all be public!