More On Copyright Laws

Thought I should explain more on what my problem is with copyright laws. As some of you know I bought an album form H.E. Harris & Co. several years ago "STAMPS OF WORLD WAR II" Harris is now out of business and I can't find any reference to the album. Anyway since I was in the Army Air Force during the war II decided to include some History of the conflict in my Album (now six volumes). After all 60 million people died in the conflict and it changed the way we do everything, including collect stamps I thought it was a good idea. Now I don't know.
The war spawned "The United Nations" to save us from war and tyranny and all that bull. Anyway I have a brief history of the war and for each country a brief squib on their position in the war. This information I gleaned from the web "Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" No problem here with copyright.
The USPS produced a series for us collectors "WORLD WAR II REMEMBERED" Five volumes with twenty stamps for each volume and a slip cover. My plan was to copy each page that held a stamp and include it in my album, which I intend to sell.
I looked all over all the volumes and could not find any copyright, until at the end of the Index in the fifth volume in tiny print "copyright © all rights reserved".
So now can I just cut the actual pages from the publication put the stamps on the pages put the pages in my albume and be ok with the copyright laws ?
Conn

If you were planning to produce the pages for sale. You have a Copyright issue. If you were putting them in your own album and then selling the album you are OK. You purchased the USPS pages. You own them and the rights to use them as you see fit. You also own the rights to dispose of them. The amount of money and time involved in the prosecution would make it silly to prosecute. Don't worry about it.

Here is the jist of the entire situation:

My plan was to copy each page that held a stamp and include it in my album, which I intend to sell (emphasis added).

However, I don't really understand what you mean here. How many copies of this proposed album do you intend to make? Just one? Is this what you mean when you say "my album"? Or do you mean, when you say "my album" something along the lines of "the album I am creating and intend to mass produce and sell to anyone who wants one?"

There is a difference, but knowing exactly what you mean will determine what the answer is.

A couple of things (although the clarification requested by WpgLwr would help).

If you're planning on copying the pages from the USPS album and then inserting them into your album, then that would be a breach of copyright - but as revstampman says, there's probably little point in worrying too much about it.

If you're planning on cutting the pages out from the USPS album then inserting the originals into your album and selling off the combined item, then you're fine - you're not copying anything, and you can sell the USPS album intact, in pieces, or whatever.

I don't know a lot about Wikipedia, but I do know that its contents aren't in the public domain - they are covered by some sort of licence which means, I think, that you can only use text if you give credit for it, or something. There's a help desk, I think, on Wikipedia itself where you could ask - but again, it's unlikely anyone would really care enough to sue you for it!

There is just one album that I want to sell. I'm only selling because I'm 84 and have no one to leave my collection to.

It's no biggie, then. You can make up your own collection any way you want to. No one is going to mind, so don't worry about it.

Than do as you want. And best of luck! By the way My Grandfather was an Observer in the Army Air Corps in 1916-1919.

revstampman I must tell you there was a mistake in my post. I was in WWII not WWI. I flew a B24 - don't think they had those in 1918.
Conn

No problem. And thank you (and everyone else) for your service! I hold ALL veterans in high regard. I am the only one in my family who hasn't served. Medically I was not acceptable (cracked vertebrae from sparing).