Antique artwork of a boy playing with Lionel slot cars,

from the cover of the 1913 Lionel toy catalogue. Scanned from a black & white image in The Complete Book of Model Raceways and Roadways, revised edition, by Louis H. Hertz, copyright 1964, 1967, then extensively cropped and processed to bring out relevant detail and slightly colorized in Adobe Photoshop CS (original black & white given a greenish color shift).

See below.

Original artwork was published in 1913 (prior to 1923). The illustration in the Hertz book, though part of a copyright work, is a direct copy of public domain artwork. I believe this qualifies it for public domain status also. Even if it does not qualify for public domain status, my use of it would fall under Fair Use provisions for the following reasons:

Area: 2.5 square inches of the original 18 sq. in. illustration is used (approximately 14% of the single illustration which was entirely composed of the public domain artwork). As a percentage of the 346 illustrations in the copyright work, it is insignificant, and its impact on the value of the author's work is nonexistent.

Resolution: The image is 210x236 pixels, substantially smaller than 0.1 megapixels.

Use: The image is used in the Wiki entry SLOT CAR. It directly illustrates the earliest known commercial slot car.

Free media alternatives: The 1913 Lionel catalogue is very rare. I know of no practical way to access an original and scan it directly.

Modification: In addition to being only a small part of the image, and being of low resolution, this image has been modified to better illustrate the subject matter of the Wiki entry by changing the contrast in various areas of the image to bring out relevant detail. Furthermore, it has been changed from black and white to monochromatic dark green and white, further to separate it visually from the source and for aesthetic concerns. There is no chance of confusion between this image and either the original cover or the book illustration. It does not diminish the value of the copyright-holder's property.