Commons:Deletion requests/File:Tolkien 1916.jpg

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This deletion discussion is now closed. Please do not make any edits to this archive. You can read the deletion policy or ask a question at the Village pump. If the circumstances surrounding this file have changed in a notable manner, you may re-nominate this file or ask for it to be undeleted.

File:Tolkien 1916.jpg

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Here's what we know for sure about this photograph: It was first published no later than 1977, when it appeared in J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter. At page 277, Carpenter writes: "I am also grateful for the loan of family photographs, and for permission to reproduce them." The photographer is uncredited and seems to be unknown, thus anonymous, though it seems likely it was a portrait photographer hired by the Tolkiens. Per Commons:Copyright rules by territory/United Kingdom, the rule for anonymous photographs created before 30 June 1957 to be in the public domain is: "70 years after creation if unpublished, 70 years after publication if published within 70 years of creation." The publication in 1977 was less than 70 years after the photo's creation in 1916; therefore the photograph will remain copyrighted until January 1, 2048. Blz 2049 (talk) 05:02, 6 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

 Agree فولکلور (talk) 06:29, 6 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]
 Agree, as far as the known source is concerned. However, I found that an online image search for 'tolkien 1916' produced some versions of the picture covering a larger area than the reproduction in Carpenter - they reached down to Tolkien's lap, in some cases. The upper part seems to be identical, so somewhere there is a picture of Tolkien of which the reproduction in Carpenter is only a cropped version. What is the copyright situation for an image that has only been partly published? Verbarson (talk) 14:53, 4 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The larger photograph is in fact on the Tolkien Estate website here: [1]. There is no specific source for the image. The FAQ says "Photographs and likenesses of Tolkien are likely to be protected copyright works." and refers enquiries to either the publisher HarperCollins or the Bodleian Library. -- Verbarson  talkedits 15:52, 6 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  •  Delete, unless evidence can be found of publication prior to 1977. As for User:Verbarson's argument, merely knowing that the image was cropped does not prove that the image was published before 1977. One plausible scenario is that the estate of the family donated the image to a museum after its 1977 publication. --ShyAlpaca482 (talk) 00:58, 5 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Deleted: per nomination, discussion. The file can be restored in 2048. --Rosenzweig τ 19:32, 5 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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