File:Clarabell the Clown Howdy Doody.JPG: Difference between revisions

Do not copy this file to Wikimedia Commons. This photo cannot have its back displayed because the song on it is It's Howdy Doody Time, which is under copyright and marked as such. There is another file of a program character, File:Phineas T Bluster Howdy Doody.JPG, which has a non-copyrighted song on its back. Both files should be kept together in case referral to this one is needed re: inability to upload back of the other photo.

This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1977 inclusive, without a copyright notice. Unless the author has been dead for several years, it is not in the public domain in countries that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works. This includes Canada, China (not Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan Area), Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, and other countries with individual treaties. See also further explanation. PD-US Public domain in the United States //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clarabell_the_Clown_Howdy_Doody.JPG

• I am unable to upload a copy of the back of this photo as it contains music and lyrics for It's Howdy Doody Time, which was clearly marked as copyright 1948. While the words and music on the back have a copyright notation, the photo does not. I have kept a copy of the back of the photo for reference, if needed.

• Poll Parrot was one of the original sponsors of the program. This was a "giveaway" promotional item which one received at a shoe store that sold Poll Parrot shoes. Many times a promotion was free for the asking when one visited a store selling the shoes-no purchase necessary.

• No copyright marks are seen on the photo.

• Since the photo can be dated within the 1947-1960 timeframe, it is within the pre-1978 timeframe.

• It was created for publicity purposes-distribution to the viewers. The image was meant to bring attention and publicity for the personalities pictured, the program he/she was part of and the sponsor of that show, the same as the publicity photos for actors and actresses in the film industry were intended to do.

Film production expert Eve Light Honathaner in The Complete Film Production Handbook, (Focal Press, 2001 p. 211.):

"Publicity photos (star headshots) 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."

"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.)

Creative Clearance-Publicity photos

"Publicity Photos (star headshots) older publicity stills have usually not been copyrighted and since they have been disseminated to the public, they are generally considered public domain and therefore there is no necessity to clear them with the studio that produced them (if you can even determine who did)."

• United States Copyright Office page 2 "Visually Perceptible Copies The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all three elements described below. They should appear together or in close proximity on the copies.

1 The symbol © (letter C in a circle); the word “Copyright”; or the abbreviation “Copr.”

2 The year of first publication. If the work is a derivative work or a compilation incorporating previously published material, the year date of first publication of the derivative work or compilation is sufficient. Examples of derivative works are translations or dramatizations; an example of a compilation is an anthology. The year may be omitted when a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, with accompanying textual matter, if any, is reproduced in or on greeting cards, postcards, stationery, jewelry, dolls, toys, or useful articles.

3 The name of the copyright owner, an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of owner.1 Example © 2007 Jane Doe."