First of all, we would like to say that at Art Dump Photos, we do everything we can to make sure that we are not infringing on anyone’s photographic copyrights. This field of law is complex, depending on the country in which the photograph was taken, where it has been published, the date the photograph was taken or published, etc. We have done quite a bit of research and we will summarize what we believe to be true below.

Today, photographic copyrights in most countries are governed by the Berne Convention, which the United States adopted in 1989. With this adoption, copyrights no longer need to be registered by the photographer, they are automatic. Also, the duration of a copyright was extended to seventy years after the death of the photographer. Note that the copyright belongs to the person who took the photograph.

For example, if I hand you my phone to take a picture of me and a famous person, and this picture goes viral through my publishing it on social media, I would be infringing on your copyright. It doesn’t matter that it is on my phone.

In the beginning of photography, the laws governing copyrights were those that existed for other creative endeavors. The earliest laws gave the photographer a copyright over their photograph for a relatively short period of time after the photo was registered and published. A fact that we have gleaned from our research is that the copyrights for all photographs published before 1927 have expired and are in the Public Domain.

The second fact that we have learned is that it is possible that the copyrights of works created before 1978, but after 1927, could retain protection until 2047. This creates a grey area between 1927 and 1978, where the determination of the existence of a copyright requires individual research. The questions revolve around whether the copyright for the work was registered and subsequently renewed. Clearly, the older the work is, the more likely the copyright was not renewed and has expired, placing it in the Public Domain.

Here is an example of a photo that I will not sell as I have discovered that it is still under copyright. This photo is called The Dwarf. It is a picture of Jimmie Armstrong taken in 1958. I had seen it posted by someone a couple of years ago on Twitter, with no attribution, and immediately loved it. I always wondered to whom he was taking those flowers. Over time I found out that this was the cover photo of a book of photos named Circus, by Bruce Davidson. Bruce is still living, so all of his work is protected for a long time to come. Read his Wikipedia page, Bruce Davidson (photographer) - Wikipedia, to see what a living legend of a photographer he is. He imbedded himself in a circus for a year or so and this photo is a small part of his providing a look behind the scenes of a group of people living on the edges of “normal” American life. So, as much as I love this photo, I will not sell it.

A rule of thumb that we use, based on the research that we have done, is that copyrights of photographs taken in the United States before World War II have expired, and are in the public domain. Based on the complexity of the laws, there is a chance that this is not true for a specific photo. If it can be shown that a particular photograph continues to enjoy copyright protection, we will immediately take it down from this site.

In addition to photographs whose copyrights have expired, there are other groups of photographs that are in the Public Domain. The first of these are those collections of photographs donated to the Library of Congress. In our descriptions of photographs on this website, you will notice frequent reference to Harris & Ewing, Photographers, The Bain News Service, and many others. Their collections, frequently in the form of crates of glass negatives, are now owned by the LOC, and are in the Public Domain.

Also, any photograph taken by a federal employee in the course of their work, is not eligible for copyright protection and is also in the Public Domain. These photographs were never copyrightable.

Finally, you will note that all of the photos shown on this website are watermarked. We do not claim to own any copyrights on these photographs - as far as we know, these rights have all expired. However, we have invested considerable time and resources to find these photos, research them, and restore them into a condition where they might appeal to a modern audience. The watermarks simply serve to protect that investment and, of course, are not present on any photos purchased.