Reproductions & Rights
The Lost Bar sells faithful reproductions of drinks advertising that is in the public domain in the United States. We are a U.S. seller and apply U.S. public-domain rules. We sell art, not beverages, and no piece here is alcohol marketing.
Gated by the piece’s own year
We determine public-domain status by the piece’s own publication year — the year the printed sheet was published — never a brand’s founding year or the year a mark went dark.
- Published 1930 or earlier: public domain in the U.S. under the 95-year rule. This includes European material, evaluated under the U.S.-seller framework.
- U.S. government temperance/enforcement material: public domain from creation as a work of the U.S. federal government — no age gate applies.
A faithful photographic reproduction of a public-domain two-dimensional work does not attract a new copyright (the Bridgeman framework). Nothing publishes here without a rights verdict of CLEAR; each piece states its basis, source institution, and source record.
Marks & mark status
Every piece states its mark status: dead (the brand no longer trades), live (a live brand, sold strictly as art history), or live-and-flagged (a major drinks house’s mark, published only with a logged human sign-off). Titling is nominative only — a piece is named for the artwork’s own historical name, describing the artifact, never branding with it. We do not adopt any drink brand into our own name, domain, category vocabulary, or paid keywords, and this house is independent — unaffiliated with and unendorsed by any beverage company.
Restoration is disclosed
Where a scan has been digitally restored (fold lines, stains, losses), the piece says so in its conservation note. We restore honestly and never alter a design.
This page explains our practice; it is not legal advice. Questions about a specific piece? The source record is linked on every piece page.