Legal and copyright information

In the absence of any known heirs of Jacques Legare, The Jacques Legare Photographic Trust, LLC, a tax-exempt non-profit corporation, has been organized to protect the ownership of the images, with its sole trustee Stephen Kling, who maintains physical ownership of the negatives and related materials, who—while acknowledging that ownership of the Legare's negatives does not constitute ownership of copyright—will be considered the rightful executor and adminstrator of all image assets contained herein,  if and until a rightful heir is identified by a jurisdictional court.

On the advice of counsel, the relevant portion of US Copyright Act of 1990 is below:

Only the author of a work of visual art has the rights conferred by subsection (a) in that work, whether or not the author is the copyright owner. The authors of a joint work of visual art are co owners of the rights conferred by subsection (a) in that work. (c)Exceptions.— (1) The modification of a work of visual art which is a result of the passage of time or the inherent nature of the materials is not a distortion, mutilation, or other modification described in subsection (a)(3)(A). (2) The modification of a work of visual art which is the result of conservation, or of the public presentation, including lighting and placement, of the work is not a destruction, distortion, mutilation, or other modification described in subsection (a)(3) unless the modification is caused by gross negligence. (3) The rights described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall not apply to any reproduction, depiction, portrayal, or other use of a work in, upon, or in any connection with any item described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of the definition of “work of visual art” in section 101, and any such reproduction, depiction, portrayal, or other use of a work is not a destruction, distortion, mutilation, or other modification described in paragraph (3) of subsection (a). With respect to works of visual art created on or after the effective date set forth in section 610(a) of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, the rights conferred by subsection (a) shall endure for a term consisting of the life of the author. (2)With respect to works of visual art created before the effective date set forth in section 610(a) of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, but title to which has not, as of such effective date, been transferred from the author, the rights conferred by subsection (a) shall be coextensive with, and shall expire at the same time as, the rights conferred by section 106.The rights conferred  may not be transferred, but those rights may be waived if the author expressly agrees to such waiver in a written instrument signed by the author. The author of the work contained herein. and portrayed as the work of  Jacques Legare, is the photographer and general pain Stephen Kling, who is the originator and owner of all images on this website. The purported author of the images presented, and all circumstances portraying the discovery and origins of the work are entirely imaginary. It is not known if the city of Paterson, New Jersey even has a storage facility. But admit it, it's a good story, right? You want to believe it. Such instrument shall specifically identify the work, and uses of that work, to which the waiver applies, and the waiver shall apply only to the work and uses so identified. In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more authors, a waiver of rights under this paragraph made by one such author waives such rights for all such authors. Ownership of the rights conferred by subsection (a) with respect to a work of visual art is distinct from ownership of any copy of that work, or of a copyright or any exclusive right under a copyright in that work. Transfer of ownership of any copy of a work of visual art, or of a copyright or any exclusive right under a copyright, shall not constitute a waiver of the rights conferred by subsection (a). Except as may otherwise be agreed by the author in a written instrument signed by the author, a waiver of the rights conferred by subsection (a) with respect to a work of visual art shall not constitute a transfer of ownership of any copy of that work, or of ownership of a copyright or of any exclusive right under a copyright in that work.(Added Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 603(a), Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5128.)

 

 (signed)

Stephen Kling