Question about photograph copyrights

[~nail in the coffin~]

I'm looking for old class pictures to frame for my haunt, being that it is a haunted school. What is the law regarding taking pictures off the internet and printing them and framing them? My brain is telling me that's a no-no, but what if I scour craigslist for old class pictures and frame those? Is that ok? I actually have a book of history from my town and my school is pictured in it from the 40s and there is also a picture of a 6th grade class in front of the school. I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to use this pic because it says under the picture "courtesy of....bla bla bla".....does anyone know the correct answer to this? Thank you in advance.

[Dylan Jacobs]

Don't quote me but I think a copyright is 75 years. I took an old 1901 photo of a hospital staff to a print place and they were hesitant at first, then confirmed from their corporate office the copyright had expired. They went ahead and copied it. I would do tons of research if it's going to be used commercially.


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[MidnightEvil]

In most cases the photographer holds the copyright.
Unless it's a work for hire job or the photographer sold the copyright.


When taking school photos the photographer holds the copyright.
He will grant permission to the school to use photo for a photo credit.
Hence the "Courtesy of bla bla bla


Contact the photographer and ask permission to
use them, tell him you will give some free tickets.

[Abunai]

You can go to some sites that offer royalty free photos (depositphotos, shutterstock).
You pay a one-time fee ($5 to $20 or so each) for the rights to use photos.
I did a quick look and saw some old black-and-white class photos on both of the sites I mentioned.