Copyright research and 'orphan works'

The National Portrait Gallery respects creators' rights. We have a good reputation for providing balanced advice, being duly diligent, following best copyright practice and using trusted, authoritative sources in our research. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, copyright holders remain untraceable.

Creations (in our case, portraits) whose copyright holder cannot be traced are sometimes known as ‘orphan works'.

Where diligent research has established the status of a portrait as an 'orphan work', we are obliged to achieve a balance of conflicting duties:

  • a responsibility to uphold the rights of consent of creators and copyright holders
  • a duty to make works available for visitors and on-line users to see.

We have decided, on a case-by-case basis, that showing a number of 'orphan works' on our website, and listing the creators' names on this page, is the most balanced approach to this conflict of duty.

If you have a legitimate claim to copyright in any of these works, or have any copyright information you think will be useful to us, please contact rightsandimages@npg.org.uk

ALLEN, CHARLES JOHN, 1862-1956
BECKER, HAIDEE, 1950-
BENTLEY, NICOLAS CLERIHEW, 1907-1978
BOGLE, WILLIAM LOCKHART, d. 1950
BORDEN, MARY (LADY SPEARS), 1886-1968
BUSSY, SIMON,1870-1954
CAMPBELL, COLIN, 1894-
CAPA, CORNELL, 1918-2008
CARROW, W J
CLAPPERTON, THOMAS, 1879-
COLE, ALPHEUS PHILEMON, 1876-1988
CONNARD, PHILIP, 1875-1958
DE STROBL, SIGISMUND, 1884-1975
DOBSON, HENRY RAEBURN, b. 1901
DUNLOP, RONALD OSSORY, 1894-1973
EHRLICH, GEORG, 1897-1966
EVANS, DAVID, 1894-1959
FLAGG, JAMES MONTGOMERY, 1877-1960
FRANKLIN, STANLEY ('FRANKLIN'), 1930-
GILBERT, DONALD, 1900-1961
GILES, MARGARET MAY (MRS JENKIN), 1868-1949
GODON, L.
GORDON, MICHELSEN
HARE, JEANETTE
HAWKES, CHARLES PASCOE, 1877-1956
JENNINGS, LEONARD, 1877-1956
JOHNSON, ERNEST BOROUGH, 1866-1949
KAHN, PATRICIA, 1933-
KAHNOVA, GERMAINE
KELLY, SIR GERALD, 1879-1972
KNIGHT, W MILNER, d. 1961
KOVACS, FRANK
LANGDON, A
LAWRENCE, ALFRED KINGSLEY, 1893-1975
LEDER, MONTAGUE, c.1900-1972
LESSING, Dr
LESSORE, FREDERICK, 1879-1951
LEVY, EMMANUEL, 1900-1986
MARCH, SYDNEY, fl. 1876-1968

MASON, ARNOLD, 1885-1963
MCFALL, DAVID, b. 1919
MOORE-PARK, CARTON, 1877-1956
MUKHINA, VERA, b. 1889
MURRAY, JOHN SOMERSET, 1904-1992
MURRY, RICHARD, b. 1902
NORRIS, ARTHUR, b. 1889
OPFFER, IVAN, 1897-1980
ORDE, CUTHBERT JULIAN, 1888-1968
PETRIE, MARIA (nee ZIMMERN), b. 1887
PINCHES, JOHN ROBERT, 1885-1968
PRAETORIUS, CHARLES J, d. 1956
PURVIS, TOM, d. 1959
RAY, L E
REYNAL, KAY BELL, 1905-1977
REYNOLDS, FRANK, 1876-1953
RISSIK, ALBERT W M, fl. 1922-1967
ROBERTS, CYRIL, 1871-1949
ROBEY, SIR GEORGE (GEORGE EDWARD WADE), 1869-1954
ROBINSON, BOARDMAN, 1876-1952
RODDON, GUY LINDSAY, b. 1919
SAVAGE, RAYMOND
SEALE, BARNEY, d. 1957
SPARE, AUSTIN OSMAN, 1886-1956
SPEED, HAROLD, 1872-1957
SPICER-SIMSON, THEODORE, 1871-1959
STRANG, IAN, 1886-1952
TCHELITCHEW, PAVEL, 1898-1957
THOMAS, BERT, 1883-1966
THOMAS, FRANCIS INIGO, 1866-1950
THOMPSON, ERNEST HEBER, 1891-1971
VISSER, COR, 1903-1982
VOGEL, KAREL, 1897-1961
WEISS, FELIX, b. 1907
WHEATLEY, JOHN LAVIERS, 1892-1955
WHITING, FREDERIC, d. 1962
WILLIAMS BRANSBY (BRANSBY WILLIAM PHAREZ), 1870-1961
WILSON, HELEN, 1903-1971
WYSARD, ANTHONY, 1907-1984