Publish old newspaper articles and copyright law

Call Me Ishmael

Hi all,

if i wanted to publish old newspaper articles on a topic as part of a publication and the newspaper is defunct....how do I establish what my obligations are so that I dont breach copyright law? Or is it that no copyright exists as the paper is now gone?

tks

Victor

How old is the article?

Corkbah

copyright exists upto 70ish years after the death of the copyright holder .... has the reporter/newspaper been gone for over 70yrs?

I'm guessing NO and I'm guessing you would need permission to reproduce the article.

GerardKeating

Call Me Ishmael wrote: »

Hi all,

if i wanted to publish old newspaper articles on a topic as part of a publication and the newspaper is defunct....how do I establish what my obligations are so that I dont breach copyright law? Or is it that no copyright exists as the paper is now gone?

tks

Just because the newpaper is defunct, does not mean the the company that owned it is also defunct, it might still exist, for example the Irish Press/Evening Press/Sunday Presss are long gone, but the company, "Irish Press plc" still exists, it owns Thoms Directory and a share in TippFM.

Call Me Ishmael

hey all - tks for replies so far.

is it diffcult to obtain permission from a newspaper once you decide what to publish?
tks

RATM

Call Me Ishmael wrote: »

hey all - tks for replies so far.

is it diffcult to obtain permission from a newspaper once you decide what to publish?
tks

I'd imagine it is just a matter of tracking the right person down (most likely the secretary of the company that owns the paper) and asking them for permission- make sure you get it in writing rather than a telephone call. The www.cro.ie site has a search function where you can find out who the directors are. Be aware that the newspaper name may not be the company name so you might have to do some Googling.

If you are just doing it as a one off and if it is a public interest kind of thing then I'd imagine they wouldn't have a problem. You should promise them that you would give them and the original journalist credit for the piece which is standard in journalism.

But if you are re-publishing old articles on a regular basis with a view to making money off them then thats an entirely different matter and they'd most likely want a cut of any profits. If you give us more information we might able to give better advice.