Bill,
The people who work at the photo shop or at Kinko's, Quick Copy or any of the
other copy places are woefully unfamiliar with the law. (not their fault - they
are paid minimum wage and no training).  Anything older than 60 years is generally
considered to be in the public domain.  Another term often used is "Fair Use".  We
can make copies of others' work.  This practice, termed "fair use" (good name,
right), usually entails making copies for newsworthy or educational purposes.  In
general, the factors with govern fair use are 1) the purpose and character of the
use, including whether it is for profit;
2) the character of the work;
3) how much of the work is used
4) what effect the use will have on the market for or value of the work being
copied.
The about guidelines are from Tad Crawford, Esq., 1993.

In short, as long as you are not mass producing someone else's work for profit and
as long as you give the author, or creator credit if used for educational purposes
(i.e. Historical Societies, etc.) you are not in violation of the copyright laws.
Common sense is the rule here.

Douglas Morgan
Livingston County Historical Society

Bill Casey wrote:

> My wife recently made a trip the a photo shop and asked to have a photo of a
> post card made.  She was informed that it is illegal to copy a post card
> without an ok from the photo studio.  Since the post card was taken about 1910
> it is unlikely that there still is anyone around to ask.  I know that the
> copyright laws on books are only good for 56 years.  Does anyone know what is
> legal on postcards?
>
> Thanks
>
> Bill Casey
> Ag Books & Antiques
> POBox 36
> 1136 Berry Road
> Apulia Sta.,NY 13020
> Farm Business:  [log in to unmask]
> Book Business:  Ag [log in to unmask]
> 315 683-5674