copyrights
I have an old surfing poster ('62 announcing a competition in Hawaii. No artist has signed the artwork. In fact, there's no fine art involved. I want to make greeting cards, or perhaps reprints of the poster. Are there any copyrights on public announcements in print?
Re: copyrights
Whether it's fine art or not does not define copyright status. Any original work of authorship, when reduced to 'hard copy' form in a tengible medium, is entitled to copyright, and this poster would be no exception.
There are two somewhat distinct types of copyright -- the old, common-law rights that attach without the author taking any special steps, and the statutory copyright that results from filing under Title 17. Works first published before 1978 must bear the familiar circle-c copyright insignia or similar evidence of copyright somewhere, or likely have lost whatever copyright protection to which they might otherwise have been entitled.
So, while it would be irresponsible of me to tell you that you have no risk at all, I'd say that your risk is relatively low if this is really a 1962 production, was originally published with the author's permission, and bears absolutely no evidence that it is or was copyrighted.
