tarnish

"I especially like the (traditional) way posters from the US assume that their particular version of Copyright applies globally.

I recommend a good read of http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/contents and all the various updates since for the "real" issues in this case.
"
Well, the advice regularly flies in both directions, and sometimes each of us has a need for a fresh perspective.

Is there no concept of "the public domain" in British law? Could either party truthfully claim ownership of this fairly obvious subject treatment?

Thanks for providing a reference point to counteract some of the wishful thinking I've been seeing so often in the forums. There's quite a bit of religious faith expressed in "sealed professional lenses" which goes far beyond what you read on the manufacturer's own product descriptions. When you actually look at these products you see rubber skirts on the lenses that are not in compression against the mounting flanges on the bodies. In fact they are often not even in contact at that critical point. The closest analogy is the umbrella. My estimate of the top line DSLR products is that they might earn an IP52 rating at best, based on inspection as well as the manufacturer's descriptions.