If you have knowledge that any image in the collection is copyright protected, please contact sales@oldtimeclipart.com with the information so the image can be withdrawn from the collection. 

All of the images are from sources that were created / published from the late 1800s to no later than 1929.  The 1929 date is an arbitrary date selected as the "cut-off" date for images to be included in the collection. 

Copyright and this collection.  For more information regarding copyright laws, see Bitlaw ( www.bitlaw.com/copyright/duration.html).  In brief, prior to the enactment of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (SBCTEA) of 1998, copyright existed for an initial 28 years after the work was first published and eligible for an additional 28 years if renewed by application with the copyright office.  This provided copyright protection for a total of 56 years (28 + 28 = 56). 

Since all of the images in the collection were created during or prior to 1929, the most recent images in the collection would have entered the public domain in 1985 (1929 + 56 years = 1985).  However, with the enactment of SBCTEA, the renewal term was extended from 28 years to 67 years for copyrights in existence as of January 1, 1978.  In order to benefit from the longer renewal term, the copyright holder would have had to file for the renewal during the last year of the initial 28 year copyright.  For the type of artwork (primarily advertising art) that comprises the Old Time Clip Art collection, while unlikely to have been "copyright renewed" twenty-eight years after first appearing in an advertisement, all of the images in the collection can probably be considered in the public domain, but Old Time Clip Art does not guarantee such and cannot be held liable in the event an image remains protected.

Regarding royalties.  I am not the creator of any of the images, simply a collector, and as such, do not charge a royalty for use of the images.  If there were to be a royalty fee, it should go to the artists, mostly unknown, likely deceased, and almost assuredly underpaid for their talent and services.