Jump to content

File:"A Raisin in the Sun", by Lorraine Hansberry.jpg

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Original file (1,238 × 1,836 pixels, file size: 149 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Captions

Captions

Cover of 1959 publishing of the play "A Raisin in the Sun".

Summary

[edit]
Description
English: Cover of 1959 publishing of the play "A Raisin in the Sun".
Date
Source Scan via Abe Books
Author Jacket design by Stan Phillips and Mel Williamson
Permission
(Reusing this file)

No permission is required.

  1. First, the photo is a mechanical scan/photocopy from the original cover and does not qualify for independent copyright protection.
  2. Second, the dust jacket was first published prior to 1978 without a valid copyright notice. A Raisin in the Sun was first published in 1959; the hardcover book itself carried a copyright notice, so its contents remain copyrighted. However, the first-edition dust jacket did not carry a separate copyright notice. According to The Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices: Chapter 2200, § 2207.1(C) at p. 15:  :"A notice of copyright on the dust jacket of a book is not an acceptable notice for the book, because the dust jacket is not permanently attached to the book. Likewise, a notice appearing in a book is not an acceptable notice for the dust jacket or any material appearing on that dust jacket, even if the book refers to the jacket or material appearing on the jacket."

At least one source can be used to verify the dust jacket's lack of a copyright notice: An Ebay listing that contains the dust jacket.

Keep in mind that the pre-1989 requirements for copyright notice were highly formalistic and, other than a few enumerated exceptions, required these three elements:

  1. "The symbol © or the word 'Copyright' or the abbreviation 'Copr.' or an acceptable variant such as "(c)";
  2. "The year of first publication for the work"; and
  3. "The name of the copyright owner, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner."

If just one of these elements is omitted, the work is deemed to be published without notice and is not eligible for copyright protection. Neither the year "1959" nor a copyright symbol (or any acceptable variant) appear anywhere in a part of the dust jacket that could reasonably be considered a notice (1959 appears in a description). Credits like "Jacket design by Stan Phillips and Mel Williamson" do not meet the requirements, nor do the identifications of the publisher and author.

Adapted from File:To Kill a Mockingbird (first edition cover).jpg.

Licensing

[edit]
This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason:


Public domain book jacket 		This image is in the public domain because it is of a book dust jacket first or simultaneously published in the United States between 1930 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice, or between 1978 and 28 February 1989, inclusive, without a notice and subsequent registration with the Copyright Office within 5 years.

Per the 1973 Compendium of US Copyright Office Practices 4.3.1.II.d and 4.4.3.IV, removable dust jackets are treated as separate works from the books they cover. The same is said in the 2014 Compendium.[1]

For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart. Note that it may still be copyrighted in jurisdictions that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works (depending on the date of the author's death),[2] and those that do but do not interpret a failure to comply with formalities as an expiration of a work's term of protection.[3]

  1. ↑ See Chapter 2200, § 2207.1(C) at p. 15:
    "A notice of copyright on the dust jacket of a book is not an acceptable notice for the book, because the dust jacket is not permanently attached to the book. Likewise, a notice appearing in a book is not an acceptable notice for the dust jacket or any material appearing on that dust jacket, even if the book refers to the jacket or material appearing on the jacket."
  2. ↑ These include Canada (70 p.m.a.), Mainland China (50 p.m.a., not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 p.m.a.), Mexico (100 p.m.a.), Switzerland (70 p.m.a.), and other countries with individual treaties.
  3. ↑ France is one such example. See 17 December 2009 - Cour de cassation - Pourvoi n° 07-21.115.
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".
This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current13:43, 24 June 2025Thumbnail for version as of 13:43, 24 June 20251,238 × 1,836 (149 KB)Star Manatee (talk | contribs)Cropped 12 % horizontally, 8 % vertically, 19 % areawise using CropTool with precise mode.
13:42, 24 June 2025Thumbnail for version as of 13:42, 24 June 20251,410 × 2,000 (285 KB)Star Manatee (talk | contribs)Uploaded a work by Jacket design by [https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Raisin-Sun-Drama-Three-Acts-HANSBERRY/31619294211/bd#&gid=1&pid=1 Stan Phillips and Mel Williamson] from Scan via [https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Raisin-Sun-Drama-Three-Acts-HANSBERRY/31619294211/bd#&gid=1&pid=1 Abe Books] with UploadWizard

You cannot overwrite this file.

The following page uses this file:

File usage on other wikis

The following other wikis use this file:

Retrieved from "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:%22A_Raisin_in_the_Sun%22,_by_Lorraine_Hansberry.jpg&oldid=1074236635"