copyright
International status of Batman &amp; Robin photo, Public Domain USA?
<p>There is a Batman &amp; Robin photo which, according to Wiki, is public domain in the USA because it was published in the 1960s without a copyright notice.</p>
<p>I would like to use this image in a song video I am producing for publication online (YouTube, TikTok, etc).</p>
<p>I’d be very grateful if someone could advise me on the likely copyright situation OUTSIDE of the USA.</p>
<p>Details of the image are here: <a href="https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Batman_and_Robin_1966.JPG" rel="nofollow noreferrer">File:Batman and Robin 1966.JPG - Wikimedia Commons</a></p>

<p>The situation is complicated.  The easy cases:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the United States, it's in the public domain for lack of a copyright notice.</li>
<li>In countries that are parties to neither the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Berne Convention</a> nor the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIPS_Agreement" rel="nofollow noreferrer">TRIPS Agreement</a>, it's in the public domain because those countries don't recognize anyone else's copyrights.</li>
<li>In countries that have adopted the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_the_shorter_term" rel="nofollow noreferrer">rule of the shorter term</a>, it is in the public domain because the image was never copyrighted in the country of origin.</li>
</ol>
<p>In the remaining countries, it is likely but not certain that the photo is in the public domain.  <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works/Articles_1_to_21#Article_18" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 18 of the Berne Convention</a> provides that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) This Convention shall apply to all works which, at the moment of its coming into force, have not yet fallen into the public domain in the country of origin through the expiry of the term of protection.</p>
<p>(4) The preceding provisions shall also apply in the case of new accessions to the Union...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So in theory, since it was in the public domain in the United States as of March 1, 1989 (the date the United States <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_Implementation_Act_of_1988" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ratified the Berne Convention</a>), it's in the public domain in all Berne countries.  However, not all countries may have implemented Article 18 exactly as written.</p>

<h2>The photo will be protected in most jurisdictions</h2>
<p>The Berne protocol which governs international copyright gives copyright for a minimum of 50 years (most counties use 70 years) after the photographer’s death and does not require registration. Most countries other than the US were signatories at the time so the photo will not be public domain.</p>
