“I looked through some of my cards and the cards made by these companies have copyright notice: Hallmark, Greetings Inc., Forget-Me-Not and American Greeting.”

These cards were produced by big well-known companies. Many of them (or even all of them) could be in the Public Domain. Honestly, it would be tricky to figure out though. Even if they have years printed on them copyright research could be a challenge because you’d either have to have the actual Catalog of Copyright Entries (not the scanned stuff, the real thing) or the Library of Congress Card Catalog right at your fingertips. The big issue is that it’s difficult to tell just by looking at the card whether these companies actually owned the artwork or just licensed it from the actual copyright holder. Just for the sake of potential time invested, I would probably leave these alone. You could take them on individually, but I promise you it won’t be easy and many times you just won’t be able to come to a certain conclusion.

“The following companies include the company name and a number (usually 4 – 5 digits, sometimes a letter or 2) below the name: Coronation Collection, Doehla Fine Arts Card, Sunshine Line, Norcross, etc. There is no indication of copyright notice on these cards unless that number is somehow a copyright number? (no date, “c” or “copyright” is part of that number though)”

These numbers are most likely some sort of manufacturer identification number but in any case, they do not constitute a valid copyright notice. If you are sure they were produced before 1978, congratulations, they’re in the Public Domain as publication without valid copyright notice would place them immediately there within.

“And some of my cards don’t have a copyright notice or even the name of a company. This part of my collection only has numbers, i.e. 7118 and “Made in U.S.A.” below that number.”

These are in the Public Domain for the reasons described above. Hopefully, the last two scenarios you described account for the majority of your collection!

The following companies include the company name and a number (usually 4 – 5 digits, sometimes a letter or 2) below the name: Coronation Collection, Doehla Fine Arts Card, Sunshine Line, Norcross, etc. There is no indication of copyright notice on these cards unless that number is somehow a copyright number? (no date, “c” or “copyright” is part of that number though)

And some of my cards don’t have a copyright notice or even the name of a company. This part of my collection only has numbers, i.e. 7118 and “Made in U.S.A.” below that number.

Thank you!

I have a collection of a few hundred gorgeous greeting cards that were printed after 1923 (but before the 1960′s) that I would be thrilled to be able to use in my kits; however, I am unsure how to do the research to find out if they are in the public domain (other than your guidelines re: copyright notice/printing house/artist’s name). Is there a way to find out without having to pay someone to research every single card?

P.S. I’m so glad I signed up to your Treasure Hunter’s Survival Kit – I’ve learned enough already to have made it worth ten times the cost!