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It's well-established that, before 1989, anything copyrightable required a copyright notice when first presented to the public or it immediately and irrevocably

It's well-established that, before 1989, anything copyrightable required a copyright notice when first presented to the public or it immediately and irrevocably went into the public domain. A classic case is a Picasso sculpture purchased by the city of Chicago in 1967. Prior to installation of the sculpture, city officials presented a model to the public. A copyright notice was put on a placard nearby, but not on the model. A lawsuit established that since there was no notice on the model, the design was in the public domain, and people could make postcards and posters of the sculpture freely, much to the city's dismay. So yes, much of the fine art produced in the USA before 1989 is in the public domain.

EvanAnderson 2y ago
(No longer on the phone...) I'm seeing that between 1978 and 1989 works could receive copyright protection, regardless of the display of a notice, if they were registered within 5 years.[0] Otherwise everything I'm reading jibes w/ what you're saying. So it is possible Warhol registered these works, in which case they would be protected by copyright until 2057. Edit: A quick search w/ LOC's "Official Public Catalog" through "Visual Material" registered to "Warhol Andy" after 1984 doesn't return any titles that look like they'd be these images. He definitely registered a ton of stuff (as would have been required for the time). [0] https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/use/public-domain.html#:~:text=b.-,If%20the%20work%20was%20published%20in%20the%20United%20States%20between,the%20death%20of%20the%20author https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/use/public-doma....)
- blacksqr 2y ago
  You're partly right. In that time period you not only had to register, you also had to make a good faith effort to add copyright notices to the works you wanted protected. The copyright registration database is online [0]. He only registered a few of his art works, and these digital images are not among them. edit: his estate registered a bunch of stuff after he died, but registration doesn't bring things back out of the public domain for pre-1977 works, or things beyond the 5-year threshold for works 1977-1989 [0] https://cocatalog.loc.gov https://cocatalog.loc.gov
  - criddell 2y ago
    How did they handle things like music played on the radio? I've never heard a copyright notice on the radio for recorded or live music.
    - blacksqr 2y ago
      Performance of a work was not considered publication for copyright purposes. A copyright notice on published sheet music is how you got protection. Sound recordings were not eligible for copyright protection at all until 1972.

EvanAnderson 2y ago

(No longer on the phone...) I'm seeing that between 1978 and 1989 works could receive copyright protection, regardless of the display of a notice, if they were registered within 5 years.[0] Otherwise everything I'm reading jibes w/ what you're saying. So it is possible Warhol registered these works, in which case they would be protected by copyright until 2057. Edit: A quick search w/ LOC's "Official Public Catalog" through "Visual Material" registered to "Warhol Andy" after 1984 doesn't return any titles that look like they'd be these images. He definitely registered a ton of stuff (as would have been required for the time). [0] https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/use/public-domain.html#:~:text=b.-,If%20the%20work%20was%20published%20in%20the%20United%20States%20between,the%20death%20of%20the%20author https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/use/public-doma....)

blacksqr 2y ago
You're partly right. In that time period you not only had to register, you also had to make a good faith effort to add copyright notices to the works you wanted protected. The copyright registration database is online [0]. He only registered a few of his art works, and these digital images are not among them. edit: his estate registered a bunch of stuff after he died, but registration doesn't bring things back out of the public domain for pre-1977 works, or things beyond the 5-year threshold for works 1977-1989 [0] https://cocatalog.loc.gov https://cocatalog.loc.gov
- criddell 2y ago
  How did they handle things like music played on the radio? I've never heard a copyright notice on the radio for recorded or live music.
  - blacksqr 2y ago
    Performance of a work was not considered publication for copyright purposes. A copyright notice on published sheet music is how you got protection. Sound recordings were not eligible for copyright protection at all until 1972.