[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I can speak from a GM aspect only with any degree of confidence. I know that GM of Canada employed local photographers to take shots of odd scenes such as parades of military vehicles of all types in Oshawa, and then published the same in CANADIAN WAR WORKER their wartime magazine that went around the world and their war album. On top of that they published many official shots of vehicles that on the face of it were used for all sorts of purposes including books, identification sets, and their publications just mentioned.

The answer may be that official photographs of trucks, boards of spare parts & tools, chassis components, etc. were for the DND and 'shareware'. On the basis that they have probably been published somewhere at one time or another, and were in sets that have gone around the world, there is no copyright problem.

As regards photos that have been published that clearly were not official shots then if they have been published, as many have, then again no problem.

Finally we have those photos taken for company purposes and have never seen the light of day before. If there are any then 'conditions' may apply. GM Media Archives will readily agree publication of such photos IF they know that GM actually owned the copyright. If there is no evidence as to who took the photos they do not want to know and take the attitude that they cannot be involved. In that event a prudent author would say [as I have seen and done as a magazine editor] that the copyright owner was not known and anyone claiming the rights should contact the publishers.

In the case of Fords, we know of course that they also provided official i.d. shots with model numbers and descriptions which GM of Canada did not seem to have done. These were published in identification packs, parts books and the like, and also the Ford wartime magazine [whose name escaped me for the moment..I have seen copies]. I would have to suggest that the same points above apply. However Ford are much more 'hands-on' about their photo archive it seems than GM and anything that is clearly not an official photo that the DND would have procured should be carefully considered.

I wonder if we wil ever turn up a complete set of GM of Canada photos? We know more or less their reference numbers but rather like Dr Who back episodes, various photos are missing 'presumed wiped/lost'.