Old films

Someone every now and then asks if old films can be developed years after
they have been shot. Well, you can...

http://westfordcomp.com/updated/found.htm

-- Lassi

That's really cool. I just bookmarked your site. You're right though,
it's too bad that you couldn't find the families. That would be next
to impossible though.

- Chris

"Chris Sprague" wrote in message
oups.com...
That's really cool. I just bookmarked your site. You're right though,
it's too bad that you couldn't find the families. That would be next
to impossible though.

Here is a true story. A photograph of my Mother, taken in 1934 was put up on
eBay by a fellow who buys tons of old photos, paring them down to the few
interesting ones. I emailed to my Mother and she confirmed the date, time,
place, even what she was wearing that day. (She's a genius, I kid you not.)
How did I find it? I have a search that goes through eBay looking for
certain things. Mom has a unique name. It's an easy hit.

So... the world shrinks further and further.

It gets stranger - I found my Uncle Domina's pocke****ch on eBay. The
identity of it was similarly easy to verify - by the engraved name, date,
and whom it was from. I paid only what the watch itself was worth. If the
owner had known of its provenance, I'd have been SOL.

Chris Sprague wrote:

That's really cool. I just bookmarked your site. You're right though,
it's too bad that you couldn't find the families. That would be next
to impossible though.

- Chris

Hey... it isn't *my* site. I just followed some links and stumbled upon it.

-- Lassi

Lorem Ipsum wrote:
Here is a true story. A photograph of my Mother, taken in 1934 was
put up on eBay by a fellow who buys tons of old photos, paring them
down to the few interesting ones. I emailed to my Mother and she
confirmed the date, time, place, even what she was wearing that day.
(She's a genius, I kid you not.) How did I find it? I have a search
that goes through eBay looking for certain things. Mom has a unique
name. It's an easy hit.

So... the world shrinks further and further.

It gets stranger - I found my Uncle Domina's pocke****ch on eBay. The
identity of it was similarly easy to verify - by the engraved name,
date, and whom it was from. I paid only what the watch itself was
worth. If the owner had known of its provenance, I'd have been SOL.

Those are really cool stories. I get a kick out of stuff like that.

--
"I ain't evil, I'm just good lookin'..."

You could be an ebay commercial.

Man, some of those photos slay me.

In article , Lorem Ipsum wrote:

Here is a true story. A photograph of my Mother, taken in 1934 was put up on
eBay by a fellow who buys tons of old photos, paring them down to the few
interesting ones. I emailed to my Mother and she confirmed the date, time,
place, even what she was wearing that day. (She's a genius, I kid you not.)
How did I find it? I have a search that goes through eBay looking for
certain things. Mom has a unique name. It's an easy hit.

Since eBay is in California, if the seller did not have your Mom's
permission to sell the photograph, he can be sued and will have to
pay damages.

I remember seeing an ad in a Macintosh (computer) user's magazine
for a database program. The ad used a photograph of a woman with a
Leica obscuring half of her face.

Someone had taken an old photograph and colorized it for the ad.
What they had not realized it that it was a very famous photograph,
the one of Leni Refinstahl taken when she was filming the 1936 Olympics.

At the time, she was alive and well and living in California, where the
company just happened to be. Although the photograph was well known and
well published, they had never gotten clearance for commercial useage.

oops.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
You should have boycotted Google while you could, now Google supported
BPL is in action. Time is running out on worldwide radio communication.

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...
In article , Lorem Ipsum wrote:

Here is a true story. A photograph of my Mother, taken in 1934 was put up
on
eBay by a fellow who buys tons of old photos, paring them down to the few
interesting ones. I emailed to my Mother and she confirmed the date,
time,
place, even what she was wearing that day. (She's a genius, I kid you
not.)
How did I find it? I have a search that goes through eBay looking for
certain things. Mom has a unique name. It's an easy hit.

Since eBay is in California, if the seller did not have your Mom's
permission to sell the photograph, he can be sued and will have to
pay damages.

I remember seeing an ad in a Macintosh (computer) user's magazine
for a database program. The ad used a photograph of a woman with a
Leica obscuring half of her face.

Someone had taken an old photograph and colorized it for the ad.
What they had not realized it that it was a very famous photograph,
the one of Leni Refinstahl taken when she was filming the 1936 Olympics.

At the time, she was alive and well and living in California, where the
company just happened to be. Although the photograph was well known and
well published, they had never gotten clearance for commercial useage.


Why not just email eBay and ask them to remove the listing?

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...

Since eBay is in California, if the seller did not have your Mom's
permission to sell the photograph, he can be sued and will have to
pay damages.

Are you kidding me? Has the US gone completely nutz? I don't think there is
any case at all. The photograph was lost in time and space, for all
practical purposes the owner abandoned it so it fell into the common domain.

I remember seeing an ad in a Macintosh (computer) user's magazine
for a database program. [...]

That case concerns an ad. Very different.

"Lorem Ipsum" wrote in message
...

Are you kidding me? Has the US gone completely nutz? I don't think there
is any case at all. The photograph was lost in time and space, for all
practical purposes the owner abandoned it so it fell into the common
domain.


Besides that, the photographer that shot the photo would be the one that
should be pressing his rights under the copyright law--not the subject in
the photo, or her son. While there might be an argument in favor of not
displaying someone's likeness without permission, who would be able to
identify her after all these years?

I see old photo albums regularly offered for sale in flea markets. I can't
imagine anyone popping out of the woodwork after over half a century and
asserting claims of improper use. How much of a judgment would a court
award? Perhaps $1.00?