Rider-Waite Deck Copyright?

[Shade]

BTW - I think Mr. Kaplan and USGS did the right thing in getting this extended - and I wish all these people who keep complaining about 'what a wicked EVIL EMPIRE USGS is' would place themselves in USGS' shoes because they would have done the exact same thing.

Well all that shifty business with declaring that the Rider Waite Tarot was co-authored by Pamela rather than her being a work for hire is infinitely more forgivable than what he did to the colors and printing of the cards in the yellow box editions of the deck. ;-)

 

[Debra]

Maybe I'm misremembering. Doesn't the term "Rider-Waite" refer to one particular (old) printed version of the deck drawn by Pixie Smith, one published originally by the Rider Company? Of course we are all casual in referring to the "Waite-Smith" images as "Rider-Waite," but if I'm not mistaken, Rider was not the only publisher for this back in the day.

 

[gregory]

Maybe I'm misremembering. Doesn't the term "Rider-Waite" refer to one particular (old) printed version of the deck drawn by Pixie Smith, one published originally by the Rider Company? Of course we are all casual in referring to the "Waite-Smith" images as "Rider-Waite," but if I'm not mistaken, Rider was not the only publisher for this back in the day.

Technically you are absolutely right. In practice - well, we all do it as shorthand !

BUT - didn't USG buy up or otherwise acquire Rider's rights/deck whatever - as there are some late blue box ones with the USG copyright on the cards within... As the blue box ones were printed in Switzerland for AGMuller, and some boxes say "in cooperation with Waddingtons" who have nothing to do with USG, though Muller does.

BUT - to add a dash of muddle - the gilded ones which were USG came from the Muller stable - Muller do work closely with USG, but even so, as they have also alway shad their own catalogue of cards (now a part of the Konigsfurt empre) it all seems - very muddy.

A, B, C and D were first published in 1910 under exclusive license by A. E. Waite's publisher Rider & Co - but - not counting de Laurence, which are definitely bootlegs - I think it was only Rider till USGames acquired the copyright.

The copyright owner is J. D. Semken, the surviving executor of W. R. Semken who died in July 1970. He was one of two ultimate residuary legatees under the will of Arthur Edward Waite, who died on 19 May 1942. After the death on 15 September 1980 of Miss A. S. M. Waite, the tenant for life, the Public Trustee, in winding up the Waite estate, assigned to W.R. Semken and J. D. Semken "all the copyright and rights in the nature of copyright in the works of Arthur Edward Waite comprised in his estate".
"Random House: Publish the cards under an exclusive license from the copyright owner. (They do have the documentary and contract evidence to prove the position)
"US Games: Effectively a sub-licensee of Random House and holder of Rider-Waite trademarks throughout the world.

There is much on the various pages linked to suggest that yes it is out of coyright and no it isn't. Quagmire, meet tanglewood.