1875 Licking County Ohio Atlas copyright question

[MarilynR]

I have photocopies of sketches of ancestral properties from the 1875 Licking County, Ohio, Atlas.  Does anybody know if there would be a copyright issue?

[MarilynR]

This is why I was asking.

Sketches of 1875 Farms
by MarBethHomeDecor

[MarilynR]

I changed the vignettes a little.

Sketches of 1875 Farms Wallpaper
by MarBethHomeDecor

1875

[Barbara]

That's 150 years, which should put the sketches into the public domain, though it might depend on where you obtained the sketches. I've seen copyrights placed on images in new books because the images have been updated in some way. That certainly happens with music where it might be in the public domain but the arrangement of it is copyrighted. You'll probably have to dig into it a bit more. If, by the way, you got the images from Gutenberg, you should certainly be okay.

EDIT: I just took a close look at your wallpaper, and decided those images haven't been touched up in any way other than perhaps by you. You'll be fine, I'm sure.

Colorwash's Home

[ElizabethR]

Thank you. We actually had a copy of the Atlas that was passed down in the family. Yes, we did try to make the images into sepia vignettes, but we don't like the results. So, we're going back to the drawing board.

[Sea-Change]

I agree that the source of the maps, e.g., if original or a more recent reprints, might matter, but these sound like iolder or original copies. You've probably already checked for any details on that publisher.

You might also see if the maps appear in the Library of Congress or other sources - perhaps those entries include additional copyright details. Here's a map of Licking:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4083l.la002086/?r=-0.408,-0.079,1.897,0.923,0

I also ran across this "Western Association of Map Libraries" article, but I'm not sure if it covers your situation. It's a few years old, but it has some interesting info on USGS maps.
https://waml.org/waml-information-bulletin/volume-51-number-1/more-maps-are-in-the-public-domain-tha...

[MarilynR]

Thank you

[Barbara]

I'm so glad you posted that link because I had no idea that the copyright period had been upped to 95 years. Thank you!

Colorwash's Home

[MarilynR]

Thank you