Austrian engineer and photographer Wienerberger was recruited into the Army of the Austro-Hungarian empire during World War I. He was taken prisoner in 1915 and stayed in Russia after the war, where he spend 19 years until 1934. He was a chemical engineer specializing in explosives, and he built a chemical laboratory. In the 1920s he was a political prisoner in Lubyanka Prison, Moscow. From 1930? he established chemical factories in the Soviet Union, and worked as technical director. In 1931 a daughter was born. In 1933 he was technical director of a synthetic factory in Kharkiv and was witness to the man-made famine orchestrated by the Soviet Government, the Holodomor. His photographs — made with a Leica camera — are some of about only about 100 images that have been verified of this crisis. (Sometimes photos from the famine of 1921–1922 from Wolgau region are used erroneously to portray the Holodomor.) Back in Austria in 1934 he gave the Vienna Archbishop Theodor Innitzer an album with 25 pictures and hand written commentaries. In 1935 in Vienna, Ewald Ammende published the book Muss Russland Hungern? ("Must Russia Starve?") with pictures from Wienerberger. In 1939, Wienerberger published Hart auf Hart ("Hard Times") about his time as an engineer in the Soviet Union, which was compatible with the Nazi-regime. He also published other photographs of the Holodomor.
For a simple photograph ("Lichtbild"), such as simple passport photos from Photo booths, photos from satellites, pictures from radiography, it was either published more than 50 years ago or it was taken more than 50 years ago and never published within 50 years of its creation.
Photographs that involve artistic interpretations, such as studio shots and those that involve lighting and poses, qualify as photographic works ("Lichtbildwerke") or "works of literature, music and art" (Eurobike: OGH, Beschluss vom 12.9.2001, 4 Ob 179/01d and Article 60). As such, a 70-year p.m.a. term of protection is applied (see this discussion).
In order to be acceptable on Commons, works must be in the public domain in the United States as well as in their source country. Austrian works are currently in the public domain in the United States if their copyright had expired in Austria on the U.S. date of restoration (January 1, 1996). However, some works might have a subsisting U.S. copyright resulting from the long-standing copyright relations between Austria and the United States.
Type of material
Copyright has expired in Austria if...
Copyright has expired in the U.S. if...
Unpublished simple photographs
created prior to 1974 and never published within 50 years of creation
created prior to 1946 and never published within 50 years of creation
Published simple photographs
published prior to 1974
published prior to 1946
All other photographs
author death prior to 1954 and published
published prior to 1932
Captions
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