There is no evidence that RKO Radio Pictures claims, or ever claimed, copyright on this image: it does not contain the copyright symbol ©, the word "Copyright", or the abbreviation "Copr."

A number of film production experts have commented on the staus of these images, cofirming that they are in the public domain. Eve Light Honthaner, in The Complete Film Production Handbook (Focal Press, 2001 p. 211.), says:

"Publicity photos have traditionally not been copyrighted. Since they are disseminated to the public, they are generally considered public domain, and therefore clearance by the studio that produced them is not necessary."

Nancy Wolff, includes a similar explanation:

"There is a vast body of photographs, including but not limited to publicity stills, that have no notice as to who may have created them." (The Professional Photographer's Legal Handbook By Nancy E. Wolff, Allworth Communications, 2007, p. 55.)

Film industry author Gerald Mast, in Film Study and the Copyright Law (1989) p. 87, writes:

"According to the old copyright act, such production stills were not automatically copyrighted as part of the film and required separate copyrights as photographic stills. The new copyright act similarly excludes the production still from automatic copyright but gives the film's copyright owner a five-year period in which to copyright the stills. Most studios have never bothered to copyright these stills because they were happy to see them pass into the public domain, to be used by as many people in as many publications as possible."

Cette œuvre est dans le domaine public car elle a été publiée aux États-Unis entre 1929 et 1963 et, qu'il y eut ou non un avis de copyright, ce copyright n'a pas été renouvelé. À moins que son auteur ne soit décédé depuis suffisamment longtemps, il reste "copyrighté" dans les pays ou lieux qui n'appliquent pas la règle du terme le plus court pour les œuvres américaines, comme l'Allemagne (70 ans), le Canada (70 ans), la Chine continentale (50 ans ; sauf pour Hong-Kong et Macao), le Mexique (100 ans), la Suisse (70 ans), et d'autres pays avec des traités individuels. Voir Commons:Hirtle chart pour davantage d'explications. العربية ∙ Deutsch ∙ English ∙ español ∙ français ∙ galego ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ македонски ∙ português ∙ português do Brasil ∙ русский ∙ sicilianu ∙ slovenščina ∙ українська ∙ 简体中文 ∙ 繁體中文 ∙ +/−