Otenth,

Don't think of it so much as having obscured your central point as having provided an open dialog about the lack of true "public spaces" in SL.

BTW, you are dead-on correct about the color photo aspect of this: in 1939, color photography was not of the sophistacted level that this image shows. Further, only a few institutions were using this high level of color work until after WWII ... even more evidence that the photo in question is likely to STILL be under the 70 year rule being bandied about here. My bet is that the photo was a work for hire from the late 50s-early 60's that was used in a textbook and someone carefully scanned it and turned it loose on the web. But that's just supposition on my part. No one seems to be able to provide a clear provenance for the photo, so I certainly wouldn't want to use it for anythin with my name on it.

But about my public space comment: where is there any truly "public space" in SL? The entire environment belongs to Linden Labs ... so that effectively makes it "private". The Lindens have said that we all own our creations ... that's private.

The only SIM I know of that has made an effort to be truly "public" is Lummerland and they made a concerted effort to emphasize that objects that were there were all created under Creative Commons ... that would go a long ways towards making it "public" in my eyes. (That's also why I have little sympathy for the SL "photographer" who malappropriated the images ... ignorance is still no excuse ... )

"Originality", sadly, is an equally rare commodity in SL. I've not looked at the works in question, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were openly derivative of Escher ...