Image: McGovern Thompson 1972

Description: Portrait photograph of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson and Democratic primary candidate George McGovern in San Francisco during the 1972 U.S. presidential election. Using his left hand, Thompson offers the photographer a discreet middle finger; the gesture seems to escape McGovern's notice. The original caption: "The Author explaining to Senator George McGovern why he cannot accept his offer of the Vice Presidency, on board the McGovern Victory Special during the California Primary in June 1972." The 1972 Democratic presidential primary in California took place on June 6, with McGovern as the victor in the winner-take-all state.
Title: McGovern Thompson 1972
Credit: *Original source: Back cover of the dust jacket for Thompson's 1973 book Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Instant source: Scan via Pinterest, which stored a file of the image as republished in the Apple News app alongside a Washington Post editorial titled "If only Hunter S. Thompson could have lived to take on this election" (February 19, 2016). Image cropped to match the original dimensions disclosed on the dust jacket, as only that portion of the photograph has entered the public domain. Retouched by uploader; see upload history for unretouched original.
Author: First published by Straight Arrow Press. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz, who was completely uncredited on the dust jacket. Nevertheless, her authorship is clear because an almost identical photograph of Thompson and McGovern can be seen in her 2008 collection Annie Leibovitz at Work at page 24. This second photo is a distinct work, despite the extreme similarity—Thompson's posture and hand gestures are noticeably different—and it remains under copyright.
Permission: The photo was first published prior to 1978 without a valid copyright notice. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 was first published in book form in 1973. The book itself had a valid notice on the copyright page, and much of its contents were previously published in Rolling Stone magazine, so its contents remain copyrighted. However, the first-edition 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. Neither the year "1973" nor a copyright symbol (or any acceptable variant) appear anywhere on the dust jacket. The mere identification of the publisher and author do not meet these requirements. The lack of notice on the dust jacket can be verified by examining the full-jacket scan at this AbeBooks listing or this WorthPoint listing.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No