Flipping a vintage postcard front-to-back is simple, but the laws and ethics that relate to each side can be complicated. The postcard itself is most often commercially published, offered for sale as a multiple, and the image on the front is protected by copyright for a period of time. Once a copyrighted work enters the public domain, it is available for free use. Digitizing it doesn’t change the original copyright, but it does create new opportunities for attribution and citation, potentially expanding the historical record.
The reverse of a postcard, when inscribed, is an entirely private piece of correspondence. It is considered unpublished, and therefore not necessarily available for public use in the same sense. Private correspondence is protected by a different set of principles, in law and in professional ethical code.
Further, the weekly research and writing we (hopefully) enjoy here, along with the website and image metadata are my original work, and garner their own set of protections. This part of the law is concerned with authorship and ownership, but I care as much about how these stories might contribute to new narratives well beyond me. I think of The Posted Past both as a humble offering, as well as something I take pride in and want to protect.
I am not a lawyer, but grounding myself in a legal framework helps me think through the different values embedded in The Posted Past, including the academic, professional, and personal. Let’s walk through five areas of law that seem most relevant: the public domain, fair use, privacy, accessibility, and intellectual property. Please be sure to check with an actual lawyer when it matters to you!
Public Domain
Copyright law exists to reward creators in their lifetimes and a limited term beyond, and eventually retain the fruits of their labor for posterity and the public good. When the copyright term ends, long after the creator is gone, the work enters the public domain. Anyone may then reproduce it exactly, reference it without attribution, or sell it in a new format.
For postcards, the original copyright is determined by date and location. Private postcards became legal in the United States in 1898, and the bulk of vintage cards in this collection date from the decades that followed. Cards published in 1930 or earlier are in the public domain today. Later cards depend on further regulation of notices and renewal rules.
A public domain card is free to scan, reuse, and resell. A faithful scan adds no new copyright, so the image stays free and available for others to use, too. Creative work built on top of a card, such as a new design, animation, or significant restoration may earn its own copyright. Foreign cards and sales abroad need a separate look, because other countries count years differently and some very old cards may still be under protection.
Fair Use
Fair use is the part of copyright law that encourages criticism, teaching, and scholarship by allowing for an original work to be referenced in another work without permission. For example, this provision lets a writer show or quote someone else’s work in order to describe or analyze it, but only within certain limits. Nothing about it is automatic, and each case can be tested against four factors.
For practical purposes, most of what we do here fits into fair use guidelines. While some of the postcard images may still be under copyright, the use is considered fair because of our analysis of specific cards, their imagery, messages, and historical context. Though some postcards are for sale on the site, the use of images is primarily related to the discussion, which is free. Crediting every image is good practice even where no law requires it. Especially with rare postcards, documenting those details can be a new contribution to the historical record.
People and Privacy
Two areas of law meet on the back of a postcard. Copyright protects the ownership of the image on the front, and it also covers the words a person writes, even in a private note on the back. This is so writers of all kinds can decide whether and when their work goes public, and so that regular individuals can avoid undue scrutiny in their private affairs. An image in the public domain on the front of a postcard does not free the message on the back. Privacy laws mostly protect the living, and professional ethics add a second layer of duty toward the authors and the people named in the writing on a postcard.
Many messages are free to use. Short phrases and plain facts carry no copyright, and details from some long-gone writers may be seen as functionally irrelevant in terms of copyright protection. Fair use can still apply, too, especially when a message serves as evidence of how people lived or supports scholarship more broadly. Paraphrasing, quoting short excerpts, and obscuring real addresses are all strategies to ensure sensitivity toward the real lives represented in postcards.
Digital Access
Accessibility law exists so that people with disabilities can take part in public life on equal terms. The Americans with Disabilities Act began with making accommodating adjustments to buildings, ramps, and doors in public spaces. These regulations now apply to digital content and websites, too. Screen readers, for example, require certain technical protocols in order to make them functional for all users.
For The Posted Past, that means alt text for every image, clear headings and captions, and intentional use of visually descriptive language in the text, along with an accessibility statement and regular process for updates and error correction. Beyond compliance, the robust use of metadata can make our explorations more interesting, detailed, and reachable for everyone.
Protecting My Work
The general purpose of copyright law is to reward creative work, and it affords certain rights to authors the moment the words go down on the page or up on a website. The weekly essays I write here belong to me, along with the captions, descriptions, and alt text I use throughout the site. The trademark, logo, and the website’s custom design are protected, too. It’s important that I don’t make a copyright claim of public domain works shown here (that can create legal troubles around false claims) but the discussion of them is my own.
I am careful with my use of AI in research and drafting stages, and to assist me in developing the infographics like the ones here. In all ways, those sessions are bounded by my original queries and subsequent investigations, and nothing is published here without my creative direction and editorial control. I love to write, so popular worries about human authorship are a bit lost on me. If anything, my writing is better for all the cogent research support. I’m excited about the new technological capabilities, but use them in tandem because being human, quixotic, and curious is more fun.
So to recap: Check the copyright status of the postcard first. When referencing copyrighted work, use excerpts and paraphrasing, and include only what your analysis needs. Credit the sources and keep track of the research steps that make up your original work. Protect the people named on the card, even if they have passed. Write in richly visual language and provide metadata so every reader can connect. Share credit, and define your contributions.
My next step is to create a brief statement that shares my ethical considerations, an accessibility plan, and a way to contact me if there is a legal concern, a descendant inquiry, or a new discovery.