bdk wrote:
The fact that the artists were employees of the government at the time probably precludes even the artists from claiming copyrights on the art. Any inventions I come up with on my job are the property of my employer, not me!
That's not a crazy idea, but two issues are relevant. First, the employer only owns the copyright in your work if it is a "work made for hire," i.e., within the scope of your employment or ordered or commissioned by the employer. (Note that I am NOT talking about "inventions" or patent law here.) I do not think most nose art was created as a work made for hire -- indeed, it was more like vandalism of government property, although of course the services encouraged it when the morale benefits became apparent. It is not my understanding that the USAAF actually commissioned nose art or assigned personnel to paint it, except perhaps in rare instances. Second, the U.S. government itself cannot claim domestic copyright in its works, i.e., works "prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person's official duties." So either the copyright rests with the artist or, if it was a work for hire for the government, it is public domain.
August
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