Calling all owners of coin sites

On the Stanford link I sent I think they address that. There were some renewal dates for some items that passed and some images and other works passed into the public domain. It seems like it was 1924, but I would have to find the reference again.

Not trying to break the law, just understand the dividing lines. I have actually contacted everyone to get permission to use data without directly quoting them.

But there is another issue that was never anticipated by the copyright laws to my knowledge. If the effective date of many issues is 1976 then this pretty much predates or effectively predates the Internet. I seriously doubt the availability of information of all types, worldwide, could have ever been anticipated. 1976 copyright laws may be in effect, but are they enforceable given the rapid changes we have seen to data availability. Is the Internet in effect a public highway where people know there is no reasonable expectation of privacy or control?

I have a friend at the University of Georgia who has a staff of three people who do nothing but search the Internet 8 hours a day for unauthorized use of their logo. I would believe that they are actively protecting their proprietary information and could defend themselves. But they are looking for products where logos are used to create value. I doubt they would look for every picture ever taken and shared on their web site. For UGA football alone there are 47,600,000 links (its a southern thing).

Images are a particular hardship. Without a lot of effort one can extract anything and combine it with anything to create a unique image. At what point is the image unique to the new creator and not the original creator of the components?

 

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This is a great point and not one I had thought through. Truthfully proving the origin of any image on the Internet is problematic.

If a coin image shows up in an auction catalog that was taken by PCGS but not noted as such, then PCGS retains the rights to the image and not the auction house. If the auction is in Singapore how would you ever cost effectively enforce the rights. Then if it is copied back to the US after being altered the user would think they are using a Chinese image when in fact they are using a domestic one. Good grief!

 

Being a photographer, using any one else's image is taboo as aforementioned.

I was thinking myself of creating a blog website about coins as I love to share. but, as we know, we also don't want the world to know what we have. Plus all the back and forth to a SDB is a lot of wear and tear. I may do it at some point but not anytime soon.

But my other non-commercial website gets submissions from ppl. Sometimes I find out the info or picture was Copied from some other website. I then communicate (or they to me) that it is their info and ask for permission and reference them directly on my website. Since it's not commercial and is for the public information all seems good for now. I reference somewhere that i try not to copy, I now check verbage given to me, etc. and will modify immediately if notified blah blah blah.

 

Like it or not this may be the only practical solution for some images. I also note that I believe the images to be usable but I am happy to remove any image as requested. In my case I think I have limited that exposure, but given this discussion how would you know.

 

So, in my book, I need to get permission from the Mint to show my personal error coins from the Mint, or I am violating copyright laws? Or by "image" do you mean photographs the Mint took and used on their website? Because I know someone who published a book for profit who used images right from the Army's own website. They cited it, but it was published without getting "permission" from the government either in writing or verbally. (Was this done in violation?)

I can go and take photos of the monuments in DC, all which were contracted out to private individuals to design, and I can create a book to sell for profit called "D.C. Monuments" and I don't need permission from the national parks nor the designers to use those images.

I have heard different answers to questions like this. Seems to be a lot of grey areas that even lawyers struggle with.

 

As always, I enjoy your genuine and thoughtful answers. It would be great to meet you in person some time and just chat for an hour or two with you. Thanks so much, my friend.

 

https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

 

Well, if you are near Tampa, I would love to. We are going to FL in early July possibly

 

Well permission is proving to be relatively easy. I heard back from everyone I contacted within 24 hours and all gave me a green light.

 

NGC gave me permission. I had to show them what I would be using.

 

Were you using images

 

I got a call back from ANACS legal dep't about me using photos of their slabs in my book. Here was the conversation:

Me: "I am working on a book I'd like to publish as a private venture for profit, and was calling to ask permission to photograph your label and slab and have them in the book."

ANACS: "We sell a service, not a product. You can use a photo of the slab, the label, the coin inside, and even use it with an annotation that you hate us and our service if you feel the need to do that. It is yours."

Me: "So, that sounds like permission."

ANACS: "We get a lot of calls about this. You don't need permission."

 

Yes. Images of the rejected coins in body bags and the labels

 

WOW, I would put that in the category of a home run for use of their images and data, and one of the strangest reactions to an inquiry I have ever heard.

 

It didn't sound like they were giving permission for the use of thier pictures, only that it was ok to photograph thier slabs and publish the photos. Unless I'm misunderstanding.

 

Exactly. If I were to use their logo in my book, that needed written permission.

 

I was a bit taken back myseif. So long as I took photos of them, he wasn't really concerned about how they would be used.