English: Photo taken circa March–April 1971. Published July 1972.

English: Originally published on the back of the dust jacket for the 1972 first edition of Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, published by Random House. Scan via Hakes Auctions (original jpg). Cropped and retouched by uploader; see unretouched original in upload history below.

English: Photograph credited to "Cashman Photo Enterprises, Inc." Published by Random House.

English: No permission is required because the photograph is in the public domain. It was first published in the United States prior to 1978 on a dust jacket that did not carry a valid copyright notice. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was first published in book form in July 1972. 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 pre-1989 requirements for a valid copyright notice were highly formalistic and required all three of the following elements:

1. "The symbol © or the word 'Copyright' or the abbreviation 'Copr.' or an acceptable variant such as "(c)";
2. "The year of first publication for the work"; and
3. "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 "1972" nor a copyright symbol (or any acceptable variant) appear anywhere on the dust jacket.

The contents of the novel remain copyrighted: they were previously published with a copyright notice, in issues of Rolling Stone, and the hardcover book itself carried a copyright notice. The illustration on the front cover was also previously published in Rolling Stone, so it remains copyrighted as well despite the lack of notice on the dust jacket. However, the photograph of Thompson and Acosta had not been previously published; as a result, it entered the public domain with its publication on the dust jacket. Only the portion of the photo published on the dust jacket is public domain, and the other portions of the full photo presumably remain under copyright.