Image: William Castle (with Bug)

Description: American filmmaker William Castle with a massive, fake cockroach on his arm during production of the 1975 film Bug. The portrait was used the back of the dust jacket of his 1976 book Step Right Up! ... I'm Gonna Scare the Pants Off America. The right inside flap carries the caption: "On back of jacket: The author poses cheerfully with candidate for a starring role in his newest chiller."
Title: William Castle (with Bug)
Credit: Castle, William (1976) Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants Off America: Memoirs of a B-Movie Mogul, Category:New York: Putnam ISBN: 0-88687-657-5. . Retouched by uploader; unretouched original in upload history.
Author: Photographer uncredited; published by G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Permission: No permission is required because the image is in the public domain. First, the photo is a mechanical scan/photocopy of the original cover and does not qualify for independent copyright protection. Second, the portrait was first published prior to 1978 without a valid copyright notice. The hardcover book itself carried a copyright notice, so its contents remain copyrighted. However, the dust jacket did not carry a separate copyright notice. According to The Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices: Chapter 2200, § 2207.1(C) at p. 15: "A notice of copyright on the dust jacket of a book is not an acceptable notice for the book, because the dust jacket is not permanently attached to the book. Likewise, a notice appearing in a book is not an acceptable notice for the dust jacket or any material appearing on that dust jacket, even if the book refers to the jacket or material appearing on the jacket." Keep in mind that the pre-1989 requirements for copyright notice were highly formalistic and, other than a few enumerated exceptions, required these three elements: "The symbol © or the word 'Copyright' or the abbreviation 'Copr.' or an acceptable variant such as "(c)"; "The year of first publication for the work"; and "The name of the copyright owner, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner." If just one of these elements is omitted, the work is deemed to be published without notice and is not eligible for copyright protection.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No