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Estate sale of negatives and slides by amateur photographers.
Anonymous5 views1 answers
Recently started buying photographic archives, all the ones I've purchased so far are from living photographers who have signed over their copyrights via contract. Starting to look at a lot of images (negatives, slides, etc) from estate sales and curious if copyrights would be included with these purchases? I've asked a few sellers and have gotten that they're estate sales so copyrights are not a problem, however there's almost never a mention of copyright transfers and I would think that selling the negatives is not the same as selling the copyrights. However, since they've passed and family (if there was any heirs) sold off the negatives curious.
This is a really interesting question. I would say that if the photos belong to the estate, then the only one who can assign all rights would be the executor/administrator. I would have them sign an assignment of rights form or a Bill of Sale which conveys "all rights." That should protect you in the unlikely event that anyone ever were to come after you for copyright issues related to estate property.
If you are talking about a photographer, however, it strikes me as possible that the deceased could have had a license that might expire with the photographer. I am thinking about if he/she took pictures of models, for example.
Whether you would then have the right to scan and use the photographs yourself for financial gain is something that I think you would need to ask an intellectual property lawyer. If you are just buying the photos for your own use, then this should not present a problem.
James Frederick
