Photos and Copyrights

According to Danish law concerning copyrights (§ 70), the rights to a photograph remain with the photographer for 50 years after the photo was taken.

This means that press photos and private snapshots taken during the years of occupation are no longer covered by copyright.  

Please note however, that a longer period of protection applies for photos constituting genuine works of art (cf. the law’s § 1). Whether a photograph is to be considered a work of art or simply a picture depends on an asessment of its "independant/artistic qualities". 

Many of the photos kept in the archives of The Museum of Danish Resistance 1940-1945 have been donated to us by others than the photographers themselves. Often the donators have been heirs that have found a photo album among the belongings of a deceised relative. Such albums may contain photos taken by the person in question as well as photos sold at the time by professional photographers. Often it is impossible to find out, who has been the original holder of copyrights to such photos.  

The selling or putting at free disposal of archival photos by the museum is thus not based on transfer of rights from the photografpers, but on the assumption that any such rights have expired.  

If The Museum of Danish Resistance 1940-1945 is aware that a certain photo is still covered by copyrights or that it originates from the collections of another historical archive, we will decline selling copies of it and refer possible customers to the holder of rights or to the original archive.