Les Archives de la Mode specializes in the sale of digital reproductions and originals of vintage documents, mainly posters, period advertisements, illustrations, and magazine pages. This activity is part of a heritage and documentary approach aimed at preserving, promoting, and making accessible a collection of graphic and editorial works.
The distribution of these works is carried out with particular attention to copyright law and, more broadly, to intellectual property. Each reproduction offered on the site is preceded by a careful examination of its legal status. Three main situations may arise:
When an author has been deceased for more than seventy years, his or her works enter the public domain in accordance with Article L.123-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code. Their use no longer requires authorization from the rights holders.
However, even in this situation, the author’s moral right remains perpetual, inalienable, and imprescriptible. Therefore, any public use of reproductions made available by Les Archives de la Mode must respect this moral right, in particular the obligation to mention the author’s name when known and identified, as well as the prohibition against distorting or altering the work.
When a work is still protected, its reproduction or distribution by Les Archives de la Mode only takes place after obtaining the express authorization of the rights holders, whether the author, his or her heirs, or a publisher holding the reproduction rights. This authorization is kept on record and can be produced upon request.
Some vintage images were published without clear mention of authorship or in editorial contexts that make it difficult to identify the rights holders. In such cases, Les Archives de la Mode systematically carries out in-depth documentary research to determine the status of the work.
This research includes consultation of heritage catalogues, specialized databases, and documentary collections, among which the Forney Library (City of Paris library specializing in graphic arts, decorative arts, and crafts), as well as specialized reference works, notably the Dictionnaire des illustrateurs by Marcus Osterwalder (Éditions Ides et Calendes). When necessary, this work is supplemented by verification in the databases of the INPI, the BnF (including Gallica), as well as in international online inventories. When, despite these steps, no author or rights holder can be identified, Les Archives de la Mode distributes the work with caution, considering best practices and customary standards in heritage dissemination.
Les Archives de la Mode seeks to act as a responsible entity, respectful of intellectual property rights. If you are the author of a work distributed on the site, or the legal rights holder, and believe that your rights have not been respected, you are invited to contact us at .
We undertake to examine any request diligently, to promptly remove the disputed work if necessary, or to regularize its presence by obtaining the appropriate authorization.
The reproductions offered by Les Archives de la Mode do not entail any transfer of copyright and are intended for strictly private use. Any other use, including public or commercial use, is the sole responsibility of the buyer, who must, where applicable, obtain the necessary authorizations from the rights holders.
We also invite our clients to always respect the moral right of authors, even for works in the public domain, by citing their names when known and ensuring that their creations are not altered or misappropriated.
Send us an email or use this form: