Are the Curt Teich linen postcards from the 30's in the public domain?

Hi Vickey83340 ~

You ask a very interesting question - and I have a vast collection of
Curt Teich postcards.

Yours isn't an easy question to answer, either, because The Curt Teich
Company, which went out of business in 1978, kept the original of
every postcard it published. The Teich Archives are located at the
Lake County Discovery Museum in Wauconda, Illinois.

You Asked about Teich postcards from the 1930s, and I found the
following information about copyright issues and public domain on a
chart entitled "When Do Postcard Copyrights Pass into the Public
Domain in the United States?" on the Postcard.org site.

Their rule of thumb is:

            Time of                          Public Domain
      Publication in U.S     Conditions          Status
      ------------------     ----------      -------------

      Before 1923            None          In public domain

      Between 1923 and       Published     In public domain
      1978                   without
                             copyright
                             notice


You can find the chart in its entirety on the Postcard.org here:
  - http://postcard.org/publicdomain.htm

And notice their caveat: "This chart gives general reference
guidelines.  Please consult an attorney for answers to specific
copyright questions."


Postcard Org's chart was based on the chart from the University of
North Carolina, compiled by Lolly Gasaway, which can be found here:
   - http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm


I found an interesting site, "The History of Tyler, Texas Through
Postcards", which reproduced a number of Curt Teich postcards. You can
find that particular collection here:
   - http://www.geocities.com/rkrtytx/typc-main.htm

I notice that the author of the site obtained permission from the
curator of the Teich Collection to reproduce them. His notation is
here:
   - http://www.geocities.com/rkrtytx/typc-qa04.htm


Since AgPix has reproduction rights of some of the Curt Teich
collection, it would probably be wise to contact the curator at
teicharchives@co.lake.il.us ... The Curt Teich Postcart Archives
website is here:
   - http://www.lcfpd.org/teich_archives/index.cfm


Search terms:

"curt teich" + public domain
   - ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22curt+teich%22+%2B+public+domain&btnG=Google+Search


Summary
========

It appears that many of the Curt Teich postcards from the 1930s are in
the public domain. However, since the Curt Teich Archives have granted
distribution rights for certain items of the archives, it would be
wise to contact the Curator to ascertain whether specific cards in
question are public domain or not. Better safe than sorry.

Good luck and best wishes,

Serenata
Google Answers Researcher

Thank you for your prompt and informative response. My limited
research actually came up with the same links you suggested. The cards
I'm interested in were published without a copyright, which leads me
to think they are in the public domain, irregardless of The Museum's
collection. They may retain a right to reproducing their copies but
not to the cards found "at large". I am however contacting a copyright
lawyer just to make sure. Thanks again

Thank you Vickey ~

Many thanks for the rating and the generous tip.

I suspect you are right about the cards found 'at large' ... but in
this case it would be better safe than sorry.

Again, thank you for your generosity.

Serenata