If you win a coin in a major auction/sale, can others still use the image?

jmwarren

Like in reference material? Can they copyright the image of your coin?

solid

I would assume that companies like Heritage hold the copyright to the images they
produce while the coins are in their possession. They continue to provide the images
in their permanent historical archives, and I would think they could use them for other
legitimate purposes, as well.

Some dealer websites continue to keep images available for some of the finest
coins they have handled, and I see nothing wrong with it.

jmwarren

I don't see anything wrong with it either. I recently found out one of my coins was being used for reference material. I was flattered, but I would of liked to of been asked.

silverandvinyl

JM: I'm glad you asked that question here's why.I bid on some Lincolns last month(dutch) the seller showed a picture of a big crate full of wheat pennies.I purchased 1 1/2 lbs.They ended up being crap.I went searching over the week-end and saw the same crate under a different seller.The description was almost the same.How do they get away with it?

jmwarren

Hi Silver, my guess is, IF it is illegal for them to do that, they are betting that you won't take the time or the money to pursue litigation.

Conder101

If you got out to a photographer and pay to have your picture taken and pay for the prints you still do not get the negative because the rights to that image belong to the photographer. Likewise the image taken by the auction house of the coin that you later buy still belogs to the auction house to use as they see fit. this is one of the reasons I had to build a reference set for my slab collection. Some of the images are from auctions and I am going to have to get permission from the owners of those images to use them in the book but most of them are from my personal reference set so I don't have to worry about copyright problems.

JD

I feel a new slogan coming on...you... "Buy the coin, not the picture." They do not become yours unless you negotiate them as part of the sale...but then it may not include all previous photos taken by previous owners. You got two issues...legality & ethics. Legally the previous owner can continue to use the pictures. Ethically, they should not be used to represent a coin for sale unless they state the pictures are just representatives but not actuals. And even then it comes down to how representative the pictures are of the actual item.