I grew up in Lynn, Indiana. That's in Randolph County. Since graduating from Ball State University, I've lived, worked and retired in Indianapolis.

 

My digital work experience began in the 1990s with restoration of vintage family photos for clients. That work morphed into the production of greeting cards and prints from vintage Indiana postcards and other paper-based objects. I've also been doing some writing in recent years (mostly magazine and newsletter articles) and I helped produce a Randolph County postcard book that was published in 2009.

 

Most of the postcards I have scanned come from generous friends who are collectors. For several years, I was sharing images of these scans online, but those early images are no longer available. In 2010, I started uploading my work to Flickr and this became my “Indiana History” project. I began transforming the scanned postcard images into creative packages with descriptive narratives that tell each postcard’s story. Although the images in these packages may look like other images on the web, they are different. The file format I use (JPG) enables an image to be combined with information of various types, ranging from geographic coordinates to terms I think someone might search for on Google to descriptive text I have written. The technical term for this information is metadata. Once I have selected, arranged and incorporated such metadata, I have added something of value to the original image. That added value makes the resulting “package” unique and thus eligible for copyright and I present a copyright statement on the Flickr pages.

 

The copyright law is complex and easily misunderstood. As this project progressed, some viewers questioned the copyright eligibility of my work and some have mistakenly determined that it’s OK to ignore the copyright. Consequently, I don’t authorize downloading of my work from Flickr. Also, because of widespread copyright infringement problems generally, Flickr has limited visitors’ access by removing the “right-click to copy” option that is commonly available on other web sites. To help visitors understand the copyright issues I’ve encountered, I put together the following list. Please be aware that I am not an attorney and I am not offering legal advice.

 

1. Perhaps the most common copyright legal issue is the confusion created by the change in the law that took effect January 1, 1978. Copyright markings are no longer required on new works.* Consequently, works published since then may or may not be marked. When digital works are marked, the markings may be difficult to locate.

 

2. Copyright Management Information (CMI) is information conveyed with a work that may include a copyright statement, the owner’s name and other pieces of related information. For digital works, that information is typically embedded in the files (often JPG and PNG files) as metadata. Removing, altering or replacing any of the CMI without permission violates copyright law.

 

3. Some people equate “public domain” with public display online. Works in the public domain are free for anyone to use. They may or may not have been copyrighted at one time, but are not protected by copyright today. Works posted online may or may not be in the public domain. If they are, they are free for anyone to use. If online works are copyrighted, their use by others is prohibited without first receiving permission from the owner.

 

4. Copyrighted works posted online are often protected from copying by “Technological Protection Measures,” or TPMs, as defined by the law. TPMs are designed and deployed on web sites to reduce unauthorized copying of protected works. One common example of a TPM is the disabling of right-click capability at a web site. Circumventing a TPM to access protected copyrighted works (such as photographic images) is a violation of copyright law.

 

5. Many people are unaware that works in the public domain may be used as the basis for creating new works and that the new works may be eligible for copyright. If the new works are simply scanned copies of original public domain works, these copies are not eligible for copyright. If the new works are creative, add new value or offer new meaning or a new use, they are eligible for copyright protection. In all cases, the original public domain works that were the basis for these new works remain in the public domain for others to use.

 

6. The process of researching, organizing and writing a book, magazine article or a blog post is not copyrightable, but the creative material produced in that process may be copyrighted.

 

7. Posting copyrighted works of others without their permission, such as in a blog or on social media sites is a violation of copyright law. Photo sharing and social media sites usually have policies to deal with these issues. For example, Facebook’s Help Center and their “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities” address user responsibilities (and consequences) with respect to copyright infringement by users.

 

I occasionally sell signed prints based on a small number of the “Indiana History” images. Although the sales help defray expenses, this was never intended to be, and has never been, a profitable venture. Not even close! Instead, this project is all about developing and sharing the stories that can be found in these postcards, and my hope is that you will enjoy them. In addition, please take the time to comment on the individual pages below the descriptions. If you find any corrections I should make or have suggested additions to the information I’ve presented, please let me know. Thanks for taking the time to view my work!

 

*Copyright law uses the term “work” to describe an individual creative endeavor such as writing a book or a musical composition or taking a photograph.

 

Thomas Keesling

Hoosier Recollections

November 2016