Copyright - general guidlines

All images shown within The Pin-up Files main site galleries are subject to copyright and must not be considered to be in the public domain. Copyright information is shown within the site where known.

Definition of Copyright

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), "Copyright is a legal term describing rights given the creators for their literary and artisitic works." Copyrighted material, as defined by the WIPO, includes "literary works such as novels, poems, plays, reference works, newspapers and computer programs; databases; films, musical compositions, and choreography; artistic works such as paintings, drawings, photographs and sculpture; architecture; and advertisements, maps and technical drawings."

Standardization of Copyright Laws

Although national sovereignty still defines variations in copyright law and enforcement (i.e. the United States Copyright Act), the Berne Convention, an international agreement governing copyright reached in Switzerland in 1886, remains the foundation of intellectual property law for WIPO member-nations around the globe in the 21st century

Locating Copyright Owners

The American Society of Picture Professionals is a sound research resource, and their  Best Practices for Locating Copyright Owners of Photographic and Visual Art guide (version 15th September 2010) has a wealth of very useful information and links. This is a very good place to start.

Recommended Reading

We are also pleased to recommend the following books from amazon.com ::


See also Brown & Bigelow Licensing for copyright and licensing details on Rolf Armstrong, Al Buell, Freeman Elliot, Gil Elvgren, Earl Moran and Zoe Mozert.

Brown & Bigelow Licensing

"The Brown & Bigelow licensing archive collection is over 5,000 images strong, dating from 1896, and is rich with pin up girl paintings."

ARTIST:: Gil Elvgren
TITLE:: Sheer Comfort
DATE:: 1959

The copyright to hundreds of vintage pin-up works is is held by Brown & Bigelow.  Go to  Brown & Bigelow Licensing for their current catalogue and terms. Pin-up artists included are Rolf Armstrong, Al Buell, Freeman Elliot, Gil Elvgren (see illustration below), Earl Moran and Zoe Mozert.  

About Brown & Bigelow

Brown & Bigelow is a publishing company based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that produces advertising specialties, or promotional products, such as clocks, pens, cocktail spoons with corkscrew and cap-lifter, and advertising calendars. The company was founded in 1896 by Herbert Huse Bigelow and Hirm Brown.

In 1925, Brown & Bigelow began a tradition by publishing calendars for the Boy Scouts of America, many of which were illustrated by Norman Rockwell. In 1969, as a tribute to Rockwell's 75th year birthday that year, officials of Brown & Bigelow and the Boy Scouts of America asked Rockwell to pose in a calendar illustration.

In 1936, then president Charlie Ward paid the large amount of $10,000 to Maxfield Parrish for exclusive rights to his work "Peaceful Valley." Brown and Bigelow also published art, including works by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, Rolf Armstrong, Gil Elvgren, Earl Moran, Vaughn Alden Bass, Mabel Rollins Harris, and Norman Rockwell. In the late 1940s, it was one of the biggest calendar printers in the world. employing some of the United States' best pin-up artists and putting calendars into an estimated 50 million homes.

The Brown & Bigelow conference room, lined with Earl Moran paintings

Ward served time in prison for tax evasion where he became close friends with Morris Rudensky, infamous safe-cracker.

The company was also notable for the fact that it hired hundreds of ex-convicts.

The Brown & Bigelow Archive is a major collection of artwork subjects and photos accumulated as a byproduct of their calendar business spanning over 100 years. This archive was created by over 86 different artists who produced multiple subjects annually over a number of years.

See also Copyright :: general guidlines.