Hacker News Reader

That's correct. But sometimes you just have to use your best judgement, and hope that the potential legal exposure is overshadowed by the benefit.

That is, unfortunately, true. Death of the owner still puts the rights on the estate receivership. Unlikely to be connected, but legally pertinent.

I wonder what their legal status would be if the photo's owners were not contactable or identifiable? In the article, it said

"Dr Burgess said he and Mr Scott had so far been unsuccessful in tracking down the photographer or any relatives."

My guess is that you will need to wait 70 years for it to enter the public domain or until any heirs are found. If you decide to sell a book with these photos, you risk of some rightful heir coming out of the woodwork and suing you for damages. The case of Vivian Maier comes to mind.

It'd be an orphan work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_works_in_the_United_Sta...

The so-called "hackers" around here aren't what they used to be.

Indeed, sometimes I miss the old Slashdot