UPDATE: The twists and turns of the Vivian Maier photography collection

February 5, 2015 11:20 AM

Lost and Found and...Lost? "John Maloof and Jeffrey Goldstein turned their caches of negatives by the late street photographer and "North Shore nanny" into full-time jobs. Now the government wants in."

Vivian Maier's work has been explored here before.

posted by zerobyproxy (3 comments total)

The copyright issue is a thorny one, I wish the article explained it more deeply. You've got Vivian Maier who died in 2009, and these two people that found her negatives shortly before her death. One person did try to track down all her possible heirs and it sounds like they only found one cousin in France who agreed to a deal to let them sell them, but technically the Vivian Maier estate would have the rights to the reproductions of the negatives for the next 70 years before it all goes into the public domain.

Physically having the negatives and being able to sell them is within their rights as is selling physical prints she made in her lifetime, but when they make new prints from the old negatives (as I assume the gallery in Toronto will do) it does get problematic and kind of butts up against copyright laws.
posted by mathowie at 11:31 AM on February 5, 2015

Makes me wonder if David Deal is making any money off his representation of the "client" he found in France.
posted by anastasiav at 11:34 AM on February 5, 2015

when they make new prints from the old negatives (as I assume the gallery in Toronto will do) it does get problematic and kind of butts up against copyright laws.

What's the deal with reproductions of prints they (legally) own? If, for example, they scan an image and put it up on a website that makes money (hosting ads, say) does that infringe copyright?
posted by yoink at 11:36 AM on February 5, 2015