although (like him), I also do not pretend to be an expert on copyright law as I never practiced in that area when I did practice law.I second Roberts's post. In any event, its not our problem, but it is our bonanza. I have the book, so this blog is not biggie to me, but if someone doesn't have the book its a wonderful resource. Especially since the photos are reproduced without the curve/cut off you get if you try to scan/photograph the pages of the bound book. The photos are all indeed in the public domain and have been since WW2 when they all fell into the hands of the US, and indeed many (most?) of these photo are now in the repository of the US National Archives. The few private photos that might be in this book probably never had a copyright.
As an interesting aside, it appears to me, based on years of dabbling in various Japanese collectibles, that the Japanese companies really don't care if their works are disseminated outside of Japan, (since they do not officially offer anything for sale outside Japan, its as if the outside copied work doesn't exist to them)
Baseballbrat, I do not think there is anything wrong with posting the link in this forum. Legally or morally. Dan K was just being a curmedgeon,
