SPEC Kit 335: Digital Image Collections and Services · 163
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright and Other Restrictions That Apply to Publication/Distribution of Images
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/195_copr.html
The Library of Congress Researchers
Home Copyright and Other Restrictions... Find in Rights &Restrictions Pages
Copyright and Other Restrictions That Apply to
Publication/Distribution of Images:
Assessing the Risk of Using a P&P Image
This document provides guidance on some of our most frequently asked questions about rights to
images in Prints &Photographs Division (P&P) collections:
1. Can I use an image that I've found in P&P's collections? (This discussion includes information
on how long copyrights last)
2. This all seems complicated when all I need is for you to sign a form giving me permission!
3. If it displays for me off-site (searching from somewhere other than a Library of Congress
workstation), does it mean it's ok to use?
4. How should I credit the Library as the source of the images I'm using?
5. What's the worst that might happen if I decide to publish an image whose rights status is
uncertain?
The information below applies to use of material in the United States. Use outside the U.S. is
governed by the laws of the country in which the material is being used.
1. Can I use an image that I've found in the P&P collections?
The answer to this question involves considering other questions:
What do you know about the rights associated with the image? [more about this]
and
a.
How do you plan to use the image? (For instance, if your use falls under the "fair use" clause in the
copyright law, copyright will be less of an issue, though you will need to pay attention to any donor
restrictions) [more about this]
b.
Sometimes the answer is very clear. Other times the answer isn't clear at all.
In all cases, it is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions
when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.
1a. What do you know about the rights associated with the image?
When the Prints &Photographs Division has information about the rights associated with an image or a
collection of images, it conveys that information to researchers through catalog records and/or rights
statements.
Can you find:
An associated catalog record (text giving data about the specific image) in the Prints &
Photographs Online Catalog? [more about catalog records]
A rights and restrictions statement giving information about rights? [more about rights and restrictions
statements]
If no catalog record data or rights statement is available, you will need to find the rights information related
8/7/13 7:27 PM
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