The copyright in this case would be held by the subject of the portrait (unless she signed a model release form)
interesting. How does that come to be?
According to the Berne convention, to which Great Britain is a signatory, copyright resides with the creator unless it's assigned to someone else. Seems you'd need a document certifiying that the copyright was transferred to your relative.
And actually, I see no reason that the creator should ever have to part with his/her copyright. Just because Disney is one of the world's creators doesn't mean that permanent copyright is a bad concept.
Jsut because I put out the effort and skill to acquire a piece of real estate doesn't mean that 70 years after I die it should revert to public domain.
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Emily L. Ferguson
mailto:elf@xxxxxxxx 508-563-6822
New England landscapes, wooden boats and races, press photography http://www.vsu.cape.com/~elf/