For what it's worth, Stadivari never copyrighted any of his instruments. The
calendars, however, are copyrighted. But I would think that the railroad
would have much better things to do than go chasing after somebody for
distributing one of their paper advertisements among the general public.
-Val
William Barber wrote:
> I don't know anything about copyright law and I am certainly not a
> lawyer, but I think, in the case of an old calendar, that the line is
> somewhat gray concerning copyright of such items. Since BNSF's
> predecessor gave the calendar away in the first place and never
> expected any direct compensation, I certainly don't see any reason why
> it can't be posted now without anyone's approval. No monetary gain is
> being requested and the original intent of the calendar distribution by
> the Q was for it to be displayed for the purpose of advertisement. Just
> because it is not 1941, doesn't mean it can't continue to be displayed
> on a home wall. Posting it on the internet, today, is just another way
> of displaying it (as originally intended) on an electronic wall that
> hadn't been thought of in 1941.
>
> The only reason the calendar has value today is because some
> individual decided to save it. Certainly, neither Q nor BN or BNSF had
> any part in preserving it and should have no claim or control on any
> gain that might be there today. Indeed, if Q had any undistributed 1941
> calendars left in 1942, they most likely destroyed them (darn). The
> decedents of Stadivarius have no claim on profits made from the sale
> of one of his violins today; I think the calendar falls in the same
> category. I know Pat Haitte and I am sure he has more important things
> to take care of than making decisions on the non profit use of old
> predecessor issued calendars.
>
> Bill Barber
>
> On Wednesday, May 21, 2003, at 12:42 PM, BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com wrote:
>
> > Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 20:51:47 -0600
> > From: <metcalf@a...>
> > Subject: Re: Posting of calendar art
> >
> > A 1941 CBQ calendar is a work-for-hire commissioned by the CBQ.
> > Presumably
> > the copy right on it won't expire until 2031. Everything first
> > published in
> > the United States of America prior to 1922 is in the public domain.
> > Some
> > works subsequent to 1922 have entered the public domain but you'd have
> > to
> > check with the Copyright Office on a case-by-case basis. The proper
> > course
> > would be to contact patrick.hiatte@b... and secure written
> > permission
> > from an authorized person at the BNSF. Under current law you need
> > written
> > permission from the creator to reproduce anything.
> > Physical possession and/or ownership of a copy does NOT give you
> > the
> > right to reproduce copies, even if you don't financially gain from such
> > distribution.
> > This is analogous to buying a Stephen King paperback and then
> > publishing
> > your own edition, whether or not you charge. Giving it away is not a
> > loophole because you are then depriving the owner of the right to
> > profit
> > from distributing it to the potential audience.
> > As for eBay there are numerous violations on there, probably a
> > multitude
> > of violation each day.
> > Norm Metcalf, Boulder CO
>
>
>
>
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