I wanna upload a composing that show el che on a grunge wall, is that thing allowed or is this a korda copyright infringement? thx in advance!

fljac,

So you have never heard of Alberto Korda?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Korda

He was Fidel Castro's personal photographer for years, following El Comandante everywhere.  There are some very candid shots of Fidel in Moscow, playing with snow.

Anyway, as Cuba has not signed the Berne Convention, which regulates worldwide rights to intellectual property, it seems Korda would not have copyrights over this photo.  Later however, he was able to stop Smirnoff to use it in a vodka advertisement, so I understand that the UK law acknowledged him as the copyright owner.

Korda gave the photo to an Italian publisher, Feltrinelli, who then publish it and it became so iconic.  Given this situation, I suppose the rights belong to this Italian.  Neither of them have been dead for 70 years, but it is obvious that the image has been used over and over possibly without any copyright fees to Korda and Feltrinelli. 

Apparently Korda was ok to see the image used to disseminate the Cuban Revolution ideals.  However, in respect of him, I would not sell anything using this image.

fljac,

So you have never heard of Alberto Korda?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Korda

He was Fidel Castro's personal photographer for years, following El Comandante everywhere.  There are some very candid shots of Fidel in Moscow, playing with snow.

Anyway, as Cuba has not signed the Berne Convention, which regulates worldwide rights to intellectual property, it seems Korda would not have copyrights over this photo.  Later however, he was able to stop Smirnoff to use it in a vodka advertisement, so I understand that the UK law acknowledged him as the copyright owner.

Korda gave the photo to an Italian publisher, Feltrinelli, who then publish it and it became so iconic.  Given this situation, I suppose the rights belong to this Italian.  Neither of them have been dead for 70 years, but it is obvious that the image has been used over and over possibly without any copyright fees to Korda and Feltrinelli. 

Apparently Korda was ok to see the image used to disseminate the Cuban Revolution ideals.  However, in respect of him, I would not sell anything using this image.

HI Madelaide,

Thank you for the brilliant resume..  I will have to read up on the history related to this subject...  I regret that I have only too little knowledge about Cuba and the revolution... Aparently, it seems that this could be a difficult issue about copyright.. And a very interesting one, if such case should ever be procecuted.....

Interesting stuff, Thanks
/Flemming

 

fljac,

Although I have no talent for photojournalism, I am an admirer of this type of work.  Therefore, I'm always reading about such great names that are sometimes not well known.  Henri Cartier-Bresson is so famous, but I see a lot of people don't know Robert Capa, although his photos are so well known.  Philippe Halsman is also a great name that I only knew recently, although I had know his photos from long ago.

But speaking of artists using other artists' works, did Andy Warhol request authorization to use Einstein's sticking tongue photo or Marylin's photo?  I never see the photo authors credited.  

Regards,
Adelaide

I remember back in the time I was at university and we were still under military government, although milder than in the 70s, and any politically engaged student had to have a Che t-shirt.  Given the quality of the t-shirts, I believe they were produced very cheaply and the sales earnings were converted in propaganda material.

I believe it would be acceptable to make profit if your product is aimed at such market (people who support Che's ideals), but it would not be acceptable to have some artist make a high-priced canvas based on this image to be sold for a few thousand dollars to some yuppie.  THAT would make Che roll in his grave for sure. 

Adelaide,
It's interesting to hear about your time in college, what a different place that must have been from the college that I went to. 

Here in the states Che-wear has become a fashion statement.  You can find t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, stickers etc. etc. in corner shops, book stores and at four or five stores in every mall across the country.  A lot of young kids (future yuppies) wear this stuff bought at some off-set store of some mega-corp and have no idea what the man stood for, they just know it's popular.  The biography of Che was a best seller and I haven't been able to find if any of the proceeds were donated nor with the film about his life.  Boat-loads of money have been made on the back of a revolutionary and IMO all with a purpose entirely opposite to Che's beliefs.

But hey, that's what we do here