Sketches of people within Istana Besar, the palace of Maharaja Abu Bakar in 1882.

Even though the National Archives website declared that its works are protected under copyright [1], works that have lapsed at least 50/70 years or more (depending on the country). The copyright laws of Singapore states that a copyright in a photograph shall subsist for 70 years from the time it is taken (Section 211, http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=2006-REVED-63&doctitle=COPYRIGHT+ACT%0A&date=latest&method=part&sl=1&segid=1138345608-006937 Division 2 — Original Works--see also Section 27 PART III: COPYRIGHT IN ORIGINAL LITERARY, DRAMATIC, MUSICAL AND ARTISTIC WORKS duration of copyright in original works). The copyright law of Singapore came effect on 10 April 1987; before that Singapore used the Crown Copyright law of 1911 which protects copyright of artworks and photographs, which lasts for 50 years from the time it is created. (See Copyright Guidelines For Newsletter Editors in Singapore, 7 May 1999)

Also, considering that Johor(e) was an Unfederated Malay State under British tutelage, the PD-British Gov copyright laws qualify for this image, and for any image for that matter; this sketch was made more than 100 years ago. In all, this image qualifies for crown copyright law; if no law was set in 1882, then it certainly qualifies into the public domain. NB: Singapore was a crown colony of the British Commonwealth, while Johor(e) was an Unfederated Malay state in the British commonwealth. Date 1882 Source [2] Author Newspaper cutting; electronic copy downloaded from the Singapore National Archives.