Maybe, Sort of, Possibly True

Yesterday at work I researched the status of a copyright.  Someone wanted to use a photo taken from the 1940’s.  They didn’t know where it came from so I was checking if there could still be a valid copyright on it.  It meant digging into the 1909 Copyright Act.  Turns out there might be, emphasis on might.  To have a chance of still being protected today, the photo would have had to be published with a copyright notice and then, twenty seven years after publication, registered for a second term of protection.  It’s doubtful both of those happened and even more unlikely anyone would ever try or be able to enforce the copyright.  But I think it was a great example of the fuzziness of law.  Maybe, sort of, possibly, something is true.  But we can’t say for sure.