Elnor
I am hoping that someone here might know how I can go about finding this information... online searches aren't being very helpful!
I've been working for the past several years on writing a novel, where my main character is a Tarot reader. I would like to use illustrations of the cards for some of the readings she does, for anyone reading the book (hopefully!) who might not be familiar with the Tarot, (or even for those who are... I myself seem to have a weird sort of numerical dyslexia that makes it difficult to associate numbers with images. Especially if I'm tired... someone might ask what the four of Wands is, or what's the Six of Swords about, and I just go blank- and this is after more than 20 years of reading the cards!)
Anyway, back to the point... I would like to use black and white images of the Hoi Polloi, because that is the deck my character uses, but no matter how much I've searched I can't find out any info about the ownership of this deck. I know it was the last Rider Waite clone published before US Games acquired copyright, and it was published in 1972 by Hoi Polloi Inc. in New York. That seems to be all the information out there.
I believe that the black and white illustrations from the Pictorial Key to the Tarot are in the public domain now, from what I can make out from the sometimes complicated explanations I have been able to find... according to Wikipedia: (not always the most reliable source out there, I realise) they say this about the Rider Waite....
"This copyright, however, only covers new material added to the preexisting work (for example, designs on the card backs and the box). In accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom (the country of original publication of the cards), the deck is now in the public domain as of 2012, corresponding to seventy years from the end of the year in which the copyright holder, Arthur Edward Waite, died. Pamela Coleman Smith produced the art for the cards as a work for hire, so the deck copyright belonged solely to Arthur Edward Waite."
If I have to I might have to settle for using the B&W Rider Waite illustrations, but I would really prefer to use the Hoi Polloi. Does anyone have any ideas, or know how I might go about finding out who owns this deck??
Many thanks in advance if anyone knows how I might be able to proceed with this!
I've been working for the past several years on writing a novel, where my main character is a Tarot reader. I would like to use illustrations of the cards for some of the readings she does, for anyone reading the book (hopefully!) who might not be familiar with the Tarot, (or even for those who are... I myself seem to have a weird sort of numerical dyslexia that makes it difficult to associate numbers with images. Especially if I'm tired... someone might ask what the four of Wands is, or what's the Six of Swords about, and I just go blank- and this is after more than 20 years of reading the cards!)
Anyway, back to the point... I would like to use black and white images of the Hoi Polloi, because that is the deck my character uses, but no matter how much I've searched I can't find out any info about the ownership of this deck. I know it was the last Rider Waite clone published before US Games acquired copyright, and it was published in 1972 by Hoi Polloi Inc. in New York. That seems to be all the information out there.
I believe that the black and white illustrations from the Pictorial Key to the Tarot are in the public domain now, from what I can make out from the sometimes complicated explanations I have been able to find... according to Wikipedia: (not always the most reliable source out there, I realise) they say this about the Rider Waite....
"This copyright, however, only covers new material added to the preexisting work (for example, designs on the card backs and the box). In accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom (the country of original publication of the cards), the deck is now in the public domain as of 2012, corresponding to seventy years from the end of the year in which the copyright holder, Arthur Edward Waite, died. Pamela Coleman Smith produced the art for the cards as a work for hire, so the deck copyright belonged solely to Arthur Edward Waite."
If I have to I might have to settle for using the B&W Rider Waite illustrations, but I would really prefer to use the Hoi Polloi. Does anyone have any ideas, or know how I might go about finding out who owns this deck??
Many thanks in advance if anyone knows how I might be able to proceed with this!
