Richard had an extensive library of photographs that he had collected over the years. Unfortunately he did not identify the source of most of his images, so we believe most of what he had were copies of someone else's original work and therefore would not be able to be published. He had over 900 CDs of images, mostly in TIFF format that he had scanned from prints, slides and negatives he had acquired. He had them all indexed with thumbnails and/or negatives in approximately 16 4" binders. The entire collection of CDs and index binders was donated to the Heart of the Heartlands Museum in Carona, Kansas. John Chambers (mvtelegrapher) took possession of them at the suggestion of Mark Davidson (mark) and me in order to assure that they would not be split up or carted off by an individual or individuals unfriendly to this group. John stated that he and others in their organization would attempt at making a master index of the contents that could be used to gain access any of the images by someone needing to see photographic evidence. John understands that Richard's intent had always been to share his knowledge and resources with anyone needing assistance, and such would be expected of the Heart of the Heartlands group. I am aware that there are numerous individuals who had received certain images from Richard which come from the whole of this collection. My hope is that they will be mindful of Richard's intent and share with others for personal use. It seems apparent that Richard had most likely scanned or saved every image that he hands on and they ended up on the volume of CDs. In the basement we found box after unsorted box of prints of all sizes and slides, as well, of a volume that we believed mimic what was on the CDs. Richard's brother Greg, was advised to donate the hard copies to the Greene County Library, Local History Frisco Collection, to be come the Richard E. Napper Memorial Collection.
Any chance the images will land somewhere they could be viewed online? Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2
Since most of Richard's collection was made up of someone else's work, and Richard kept no record of the provenance of the images, we would not be able, in good conscience, or legally, reproduce them here or anywhere else electronically. In the strictest of interpretations, the scan CDs Richard made stretch the interpretation of copyright law, however it could be argued that he may have done so for his own use, not for distribution. The hard copies from whence Richard produced the CDs will supposedly end up at the Greene County Library. Where anyone should have access to them. The CDs will be in the possession of the Heart of the Heartlands Museum group for reference.
First let me say that I am glad that his photographic collection will be intact somewhere. Too bad that, although in piece, it will not be available for folks like us to use. I had no idea that the Heartlands Museum group were big Frisco fans. That may sound snide, but it isn't my intent.
How does one go about looking at the collection at the library? Are they going to be available for research, viewing, etc? Are they just going to be stored in the boxes unsorted? I would assume that they are typical of most organizations of this type and always short handed. Maybe what we should do is to come up with some sort of "work" party and spend a week end at the library and sort and catalog them so that they can be used for future reference. I don't know if any of Richards many index's would be of any value to them. Tony L.
Tony and all, The cd's will be available for those who want to come and look through them. Richard had scanned pictures of many subjects, not just Frisco, including one's he had taken. I have figured out how he catalogued the collection and it is something that can be used immediately without having to make a new list. The Heartlands is in the early stages of adding onto our building and creating a library and media center. We plan to start construction in 2014. This will make it easier for anyone to come and use the material, which is growing everyday. The majority of what Richard has is copies from other collections so it is not possible for us to sell any of these images without the current owners permission. We can, however, let people make copies for personal use and will be creating forms for people to sign that would allow this use. We can't post on the internet due to copyright issues. Richard was one of our members having joined when we hosted the first Frisco convention. If anyone wants to use this material please let me know and we can arrange a visit. You can learn more about our group by visiting our website: www.heartlandstrainclub.org. We also plan on having some public slide shows soon and will be looking at some of Richards material. I will post the dates here and look at our website for updates. John Chambers
As long as you're not charging people to view them you can do what you like with them. They are yours. No matter who produced them. You can sell them, display them, burn them or whatever ever you want as long as you don't profit from their exhibition. But lets not get that started. I would really like to see them but that will be difficult at their current location. Too bad
if you are talking about the phisical print/negative/slide, then what you say is largely true.... The problem comes in that Richard scanned prints/negatives/slides and put them on CDs. If you own the copyright to everything on a CD like this ( I.e. you created all of the images or you purchased the copyright from a previous owner ) then you can do whatever you want with the contents. If you don't own the copyright, you only own a copy of the image, but you are allowed to transfer a work from one media to another for viewing purposes, so you can scan an image for your use and put it on your computer. In this case, you are not allowed to sell or give away the copy without also providing the purchaser with the original. ( similarly, if you sell or give away the original, you are supposed to destroy all copies of the images ). Not following the copyright rules is stealing from the copyright holder ( and I make my living from copyright, so I have issues whenever someone does this). Where there is a question about Richards CDs of images is did he own the copyright or not? Paul
Title 17 of the U.S. Code protects the rights of creators of published as well unpublished works. This forum has a real problem with understanding copyright rules. For instance Charlie Dix downloaded the 1984 Passenger Train Journal issue on the Frisco in clear violation of copyright rules. He did not seek or obtain the prior written permission of the copyright owner.This kind of behavior does not reflect well on the forum and needless to say could subject Dix to civil penalties.
You've got to really be careful how you use material for which you do not hold the rights. An importer of brass HO scale models used prototype photos he did not own to promote the models and wound up getting sued, even though the photos were not what he was selling. GS
