Do I need permissions to produce a book of my poster collection?

[Durandy]

Hello,

I am the owner/curator of a vast collection of promotional posters related to a specific 80's music group. I am producing a book of selected posters from my collection -- I am writing all the text, and a photographer is being employed to shoot all the posters that will be included in the book.

I am wondering if I will have to obtain permission from the band, past record companies, artists, photographers or any other known person/entity who may be responsible for, or credited on, any of the posters featured in my book.

Although the subject matter spans the band's career from 1980 to the present day, most of the posters date back to the early - mid 80's.

I am currently under the impression that permission may depend on how the book is designed, and for what purpose. If the posters in the book are presented as a collection (such as 'The Andy G. Collection'), instead of as individual items, would that affect permission requirements? I understand that museums may often take this approach when producing exhibits of art collections.

Any help would be very appreciated.

Thank you!

Andy

 

[albright]

The resident legal expert may be along for a better and more informed comment. However...

I believe this would certainly violate rights of the poster's copyright owner.

An example that isn't exactly the same, but I feel may put this in perspective: what if you were to take a the best of the band's music from the early-mid '80's and produce a "collection" of it? That is clearly not okay. The music is the property of the band, you don't have the rights to reproduce and sell it.

The artwork is the property of someone (not necessarily the band) -- it could very well be a record company or anyone else etc who currently owns the rights to the band name and the artwork.

I am not sure about the details of "The Andy G. Collection" you mention, but generally museums or other books either own the rights or have worked out some agreement to publish works.

 

[Durandy]

Thank you very much Albright, I greatly appreciate your response. Your points are well-stated and will be carefully considered.

I have also received information that, if the posters in the book are presented as part of a personal collection or catalogue, it might provide a caveat to the copyright issue. An example supposes that my forthcoming book could be described as 'presenting posters from The A. Golub Collection' (using my name)-- I believe this is how many museums go about producing exhibitions of various artists' works. Otherwise, the museums would have to obtain permission from each and every artist in order to put on an exhibit, and I imagine few exhibits would be deemed worth all that effort.

So, I am hoping to learn how much I might be able to rely on this supposed 'loophole'. In the case of my poster collection, the poster origins/copyright holders are simply unknown -- many of the posters are more than 20 years old or they originated in a foreign country. I'm not sure if it's possible to address the task of tracking down copyrights and obtaining permission for posters that were mass-produced by an unknown promotional company on the other side of the world.

Thank you very much again, and I hope to hear from you on these further issues.

Sincerely,

Andrew

 

[albright]

I am quite sure the Museums do have permissions for each and every work in one way or another.

Perhaps the artworks are so old they are not protected under copyright. Perhaps when the original artwork was sold to the collector, the collector received rights from the artist to reproduce the artwork in a collection. Perhaps they just contacted the artist and they were happy to have their work published in a printed collection. Keep in mind that all art in all museums and galleries has some sort of agreement between the artist and the museum/gallery.

I believe you should certainly consult an attorney before producing this book. You could be certainly stopped from selling it after going through the time, effort, and money to get it printed printed as well as be liable for statutory damages. The current copyright holders to these artworks have the right to produce a book if they want, whether or not you know who they are. By you releasing this book you would almost certainly be lowering the value of any future use of these rare/obscure works.

Also consider that the artworks photographed for the Collections you mention were likely originals, whereas you have only mass produced prints of this artwork.

I hope this helps. I would definitely recommend seeking the advice of a legal expert before pursuing this. Instead of making money you could be out lots of time and effort as well as be paying damages.