Commons:Deletion requests/File:John Huston - publicity.JPG

File:John Huston - publicity.JPG and File:John Huston - publicity (cropped).JPG

No proof that this image is free to use and that Paramount omitted copyright notice from press photos, like this one. Oh, wait... Another copy of this nominated photo has a copyright notice (ebay). Unsure why this nominated copy omitted the copyright notice, but then not enough info about this copy has been provided so far. George Ho (talk) 06:29, 21 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I mean, it only takes one publication (by someone with the right to publish it) without copyright notice to break copyright. Mind, it was also formerly easier to cover up a mistake, as most of the publicity photos were going to be in newspaper and magazine archives, where members of the public would never see them, and we didn't have Commons searching out those things that weren't properly copyrighted.

Basically, now that we have motivation to seek out things out of copyright, and a world that makes it easier to find images in the first place, there's going to be cases where someone sloppily released something they shouldn't have.

That said, given the copy of the photo you found has the copyright notice attached to the bottom of it, I'm a little more concerned that we can't see the original listing. This could easily have just been a (digital) crop to the photo, with the copyright always there. Delete due to lack of evidence this is the whole image. Adam Cuerden (talk) 10:29, 21 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Oh. Right. From the original listing:

"Please note the black and whites are on modern photostock paper in lab from negatives from the late 1980s, 1990s, 2000s purchased retail." It's a modern print from historic negatives. This copy isn't from the era where no notice applies because it's a modern printing of the image. Delete Clearly not a valid no-notice claim.

Also, I've taken the liberty of noting a derivative work of this file, so that both can be deleted. Adam Cuerden (talk) 10:40, 21 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have been tricked by sellers, selling copies of historic photos. I thought I was buying an original. --RAN (talk) 03:03, 23 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Delete Good catch. I updated the category with: "Paramount Pictures copyrighted publicity photos as early as 1974" and we can update the message as we find earlier examples. I try and do this for each movie studio and record label. I also added the copyright notice itself to the category. Remember, that sometimes the same photo may be used in authorized advertisement, and if the copyright notice there is deficient, the image then may have lapsed into the public domain. We have several instances of that from magazines and newspapers. --RAN (talk) 17:30, 21 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]