I am answering this because I saw Bill Seliger Jr. expressing some concerns. Since he has been digging on the Consolacion for a number of years now, I know he must have some terrific material that may or may not be copyrighted. He is not alone. Many of you might have material that you could use commercially from all your hunts.
Copyright...hmmmm.
If published prior to January 1st, 1923 in the U.S. it is now in the public domain. From 1923 - 1949 there could still be a renewal in effect for copyright as the copyright only lasted 28 years prior to 1923 and in the 28th year, a renewal could be granted. 1949 to 1978.... beats me... a little gray here, but mostly you have to find out if the stuff is copyrighted. Much of what is on this thread is NOT copyrighted as original work... stuff's just too old. Post 1978 you don't have a chance if it is a U.S. publication. Goes for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years, provided it is not a "work for hire", meaning, for example, Harper and Row can't hire me to write a book and copyright it for 140 years if I live to be 90 (say I wrote the book when I was 20) and they paid me to write it as a journalist, for example.
If I reprint a picture painted by somebody else and the copyright is long gone with the original artist, I can't really claim copyright, unless I lie and say that I made the picture myself... course, you can get away with just about anything if you can lie well enough, long enough. Lies are definitely infringement and you might get whacked. Otherwise, everyone must expect fair use of their material. "Fair Use"... see a lawyer.
I am doing a book production right now for a contributor on this forum... Bobadilla. He wrote one and I am going to send it to press shortly. First thing I did was print it in his draft form and send that to the Library of Congress with a $45.00 fee and copyright application in his name with his signature. By the way, its a very good book and I think many of you will want a copy. But, it is copyrighted as we speak. We are not worried. And, it does have many illustrations dating from originals prior to 1923... some from the hand of Christopher Columbus, and others by famous magazine illustrators of the 1800's.
You know, if you give credit where credit is due, its usually not a problem to plagerize to some degree. However, in our particular crowd, we tend to tease one another with bits of information and that can make the blood boil. (All along I thought that was the general idea... cerebral stimulation)