Using illustrations from books published prior to 1923

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• August 26, 2009 @ 8:02pmDHall says:

  Greetings,
  I am inquiring about using illustrations from vintage books. I understand that books published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, are the illustrations also public domain? Is it possible for the illustrators relatives to hold copyright for said items, or are ALL works before 1923 open for public use?
  Thank you in advance, I appreciate any advice!
• September 10, 2009 @ 5:17pmFreya Anderson says:

  My take is that illustrations might have earlier copyright dates than the books that hold them (if, say, they were republished in some sort of compilation), but they couldn't have later copyright dates. Some argument that some works originally published in some other countries before 1923 might still have copyright protection in the US, but generally the 1923 date is safe. There's a great tool to help you make determinations whether or not specific works are in the public domain. See the Public Domain Slider at:
  http://librarycopyright.net/digitalslider.

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