Image: The Catcher in the Rye (1951, first edition cover)

Description: First-edition cover of The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by the American author J. D. Salinger.
Title: The Catcher in the Rye (1951, first edition cover)
Credit: Nate D. Sanders auctions (direct link to jpg). Retouched by uploader.
Author: Michael Mitchell; the credit "Jacket design by Michael Mitchell" is found on the right jacket flap (the left panel). (For jurisdictions that do not recognize the rule of the shorter term, and define copyright term based the date of the author's death plus a set number of years: according to this post at Cal Arts, Mitchell died in 2009.)
Permission: No permission is required. First, the photo is a mechanical scan/photocopy of the original cover and does not qualify for independent copyright protection. Second, the dust jacket was first published prior to 1978 without a valid copyright notice. The Catcher in the Rye was first published in 1951; the hardcover book itself carried a copyright notice, so its contents remain copyrighted. However, the first-edition dust jacket did not carry a separate copyright notice. According to The Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices: Chapter 2200, § 2207.1(C) at p. 15: "A notice of copyright on the dust jacket of a book is not an acceptable notice for the book, because the dust jacket is not permanently attached to the book. Likewise, a notice appearing in a book is not an acceptable notice for the dust jacket or any material appearing on that dust jacket, even if the book refers to the jacket or material appearing on the jacket." The jacket's lack of a copyright notice can be verified from the full scan, linked below. Keep in mind that the pre-1989 requirements for copyright notice were highly formalistic and, other than a few enumerated exceptions, required these three elements: "The symbol © or the word 'Copyright' or the abbreviation 'Copr.' or an acceptable variant such as "(c)"; "The year of first publication for the work"; and "The name of the copyright owner, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner." If just one of these elements is omitted, the work is deemed to be published without notice and is not eligible for copyright protection. Neither the year "1951" nor a copyright symbol (or any acceptable variant) appear anywhere on the dust jacket. Credits like "Jacket design by Michael Mitchell" do not meet these requirements, nor do the identifications of the publisher and author.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No