About Reusable Art, Using Our Images & Copyright

Reusable Art is an ever-growing resource for crafters and website designers. The idea behind Reusable Art is to breathe new life into old drawings, photos, and other illustrations that appeared in books, magazines and other periodicals and have since gone out of copyright.

We include as much information as possible so that the creator of each work can be recognized and honored for their lovely work as well as provide documentation as to the copyright status of the images.

A small indulgence in a soap box moment…

I share much of my time and myself on this site. I have been asked several times about using the images that I included in my banner. While I have shared the beautiful cat drawing with you, I will not be sharing the others.  I appreciate every email I receive and try to answer them promptly, they are generally the sort of comments that make doing a site like Reusable Art worth it. But, there are occasions where folks just really hit a nerve. I would never be so bold as to ask someone for part of their site banner of logo for my own use. It always surprises me when others ask that of me. The last person even sent a second, somewhat fussy email, when I didn’t answer the first one fast enough. So, just in case anyone else wants to know…NO, I WILL NOT SHARE THE IMAGES IN MY BANNER WITH YOU; THEY ARE PART OF MY SITE’S BRANDING. I’m glad that you are enjoying my site but please don’t ask me for any of the images in my heading or banners – the answer is no.

…getting off soap box and back to business.

 

How to Use This Site

To download our pictures, simply use your mouse to hover over the picture, right click and either Save or Copy the image.

Copyright Laws

Copyright law varies from country to country. There have been extensive efforts by the World Trade Organization, the European Union and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works to come up with a consistent standard to be used world-wide. The Berne Convention gives the original creator of literary and artistic works copyrights to their work for their natural lifetime plus 50 years. The problem with Berne is that it allows for individual countries to enact stronger laws regarding copyright duration.

On the Wikipedia website, they have compiled a list of the Duration of Copyrights by Country.

For the most part, most countries either stick with the death plus 50 years restrictions or use date of death plus 70 years.

There are a few that extend copyright protection beyond 70 years after the death of the artist.

  • Columbia– 80 years
  • Cote d’Ivoire – 99 years
  • France – uses 70 years after death plus 14 years and 272 days for the two World Wars and adds an additional 30 years if the author dies on active service (which means in France copyright can extend up to 114 years and 272 days beyond the date of death of the creator)
  • Guatemala – 75 years
  • Honduras – 75 years or 70 if the item was published more than 50 years ago (All images on Reusable Art were published more than 50 years ago.)
  • Mexico – 100 years
  • St. Vincent and the Grenadines – 75 years
  • Samoa – 75 years
  • Spain – 70-80 depending on year of death (for most works on Reusable Art, 80 years would be used)

The researchers at Wikipedia were unable to determine the durations of copyrights for the countries that follow. Residents and anyone wishing to create and sell public works in these countries are encouraged to use the information provided to determine the copyright status of images on Reusable Art prior to using any of our images for public works. (List updated March 20, 2012)

  • American Samoa
  • British Indian Ocean Territory
  • British Virgin Islands
  • The Cayman Islands
  • Nauru
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Somalia
  • Vanuatu

The following countries were previously listed as having an unknown copyright duration on Wikipedia and have been updated with new information since this article was first written.

  • Anguilla (Wikipedia updated to reflect 2002 IP law revision to Life + 50)
  • Aruba (Wikipedia updated per LexMundi.com to Life + 50)
  • Bermuda (Wikipedia updated per Bermuda govt. site to Life + 50)
  • Laos (Wikipedia since updated to indicate no copyrights in Laos)
  • Eritrea (Wikipedia updated to “the latter of Life +0 years or 50 years since publication)
  • San Marino (Wikipedia updated to Life + 50 years)
  • Turkmenistan (Wikipedia updated to Life + 50)

Eritrea and Marshall Islands, according to Wikipedia, have no known copyright laws.

Any country not specifically mentioned extends copyrights no more than 70 years beyond the lifetime of the artist. Most images appearing on Reusable Art fall into this last category, making them copyright free in most of the world. (see update 11/18/10 below for more information)

In the United States, anything published prior to 1923 is no longer protected by a copyright.

Additionally, US law uses a term of 95 or 120 years after publication to determine copyright duration when the original author is unknown or their date of death can not be determined. For those works attributed to a person, 95 years is used. For those works where no author is listed and/or where the copyrights were owned by a corporation (typically the publisher), the copyrights expire 120 years after publication. To be on the safe side, if we can not determine a date of death or the name of the original author/illustrator, we will consider the image free of copyright if at least 120 years have passed since the work was published.

When a creative work falls out of copyright it is said to be “copyright free” and in the “public domain”. That means that the original artists do not have to be paid royalties or any other fees for the use of their work.

According to a copyright specialist at the US Copyright Office, the spirit of a copyright is to allow the original holder of the copyright to enjoy full rights to their work for a limited period of time. After that time, it is hoped that others will build upon the original work and improve upon it.

It is with that spirit of improving on the original work that ReusableArt.com was born.

Public Works Using Images Found on Reusable Art

If you plan on using any of these images in commercial work (stuff you make to sell) you can do so freely as long as you only sell the finished items in a country where the copyright has expired.

Reusable Art only contains images that are copyright free in the United States and where the original author/illustrator has been dead for at least 70 years; making it a public domain work in all those countries who follow the Berne Convention or extend the copyright 70 years after the death of the creator. This means that except for the exceptions noted above and those countries where their copyright laws are listed as unknown, ALL of the images appearing on Reusable Art are in the public domain and may be used for any purpose.

We have included information as to where the artwork originally appeared both to honor their creators and to enable people to investigate the image’s copyright status in countries that do not follow the Berne Convention or grant copyright beyond death plus 70 years. Again, every image on this site is in the public domain in the United States.

We hope you enjoy what we are building here and hope you can make use of the free public domain images presented here.

A word about the images posted on ReusableArt.com

We decided to leave many of the images in their original form rather than work with some of them to make them completely ready for your use. As many of you know with .jpg and other image types, each time a file is edited and resaved there is a certain level of degradation of the image’s quality. There are a number of images that contain the original text or other content that would need to removed to use the image for your own work.

Our Copyrights

Since Reusable Art is a site comprised of art created by others that have gone into the public domain in the United States, we can legally make no claim on any individual image shared on this site.

However, when public domain materials are compiled together, that compilation can be copyrighted by the person who created the compilation. What that means is that while individual items appearing on Reusable Art are copyright free and in the public domain in the United States and most of the rest of the world, the collection of images as a whole are copyrighted to Reusable Art and may not be used in part or it’s entirety without written permission from the owner of this site.

Additionally, all text appearing on this site is fully copyrighted by Reusable Art and may not be used without written permission from the owner of this site.

It takes quite a bit of research, time, and money to maintain this site and we hope you can understand our desire to protect our investment by respecting our own copyrights.

Photographs vs. Mechanical Reproductions

Update 11/18/10…

I had recently begun adding a number of photographs of public domain paintings to Reusable Art. Through my research, I’ve come to learn that some countries have different laws when it comes to the technique used to copy public domain works. Every country appears to agree that mechanical copies of public domain works, scans and photocopies, are not granted copyright protection.

Where things start to get messy is when a public domain work is photographed. Some countries, wrongly in my opinion and in the legal opinion of many other countries, believe that photographing a public domain work requires such skill as to be considered a “new” work of art and therefore subject to copyright protection. Such an interpretation seems totally contrary to the original spirit of copyright law which allows the original creator the benefits of their efforts for a set period of time and then the work falls into the public domain where it can be freely shared by everyone.

In some countries, the laws on this are somewhat unclear and still evolving. Other countries, including England, are granting copyrights to photographs of public domain works which is essentially transferring the copyrights of the original artist to the photographer. Many UK museums ban the use of cameras and are effectively establishing themselves as copyright holders over all of the artworks in their collections.

Photographs of three dimensional objects, regardless of the age of the object, are subject to separate laws than photographs of two dimensional objects. Here at Reusable Art, we are focused on copyrights as they relate to two-dimensional works such as printed items (books, magazines, pamphlets etc,) and paintings.

I bring this up, not to bash photographers or portray what they do as not requiring any skills, but to add my small voice to the growing crowd of artisans who find such interpretations of the law ridiculous. I also feel a responsibility to urge anyone outside of the United States who uses any of the photographic images on Reusable Art to educate themselves on the law of copyrights for photographs of public domain works before using images they have found on Reusable Art or elsewhere on the web.

For the most part, the images on Reusable Art have been mechanically reproduced. They have been scanned or photocopied from print materials. As this is a site dedicated to drawings and illustrations, there will be a limited number of actual photographs shared here. However, there are a handful of paintings included on Reusable Art, particularly in the Christmas and Nativity categories. I do try to only use photographs of public domain works from countries like the United States who do not convey copyright protection to photos of these works. But, I do recommend caution for anyone using them in countries that do.

While not a complete list, here’s what I’ve been able to find as to which countries are doing what. Please keep in mind that future lawsuits may create precedents which could change this list and it is your own responsibility to ensure you are complying with your own country’s laws.

OK to use photographic copies of 2 dimensional works of art – United States, Germany, Japan, Macao, Poland, Romania and Switzerland.

Court rulings have left the issue somewhat unclear in – France and the Netherlands.

Photographs of public domain works are protected in several countries but their terms vary from standard copyright…

The Nordic countries, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden grant copyright protection for photographs of public domain works or other subjects for 50 calendar years since the photograph was produced. Norway also stipulates 15 years p.m.a. This means that a photograph taken on May 5th, 1970 would enjoy copyright protection until January 1, 2021. The new laws went into effect in the early 1990s and each country provided a shorter copyright duration for photographs taken prior to that time. (I encourage anyone living in one of these countries to research your laws before using photographs you find anywhere on the Internet, regardless of the source.)

Spain provides “mere photographs” with 25 years of protection beginning on January 1st of the year following creation.

In Taiwan, if the photographer officially registers the photo, it may be protected for 10 years.

UK – thus far the courts have upheld that the choice of lighting, exposure, filters, etc. required to take a photograph of a public domain work creates enough originality in the photograph so as to be creating a new work. This means that in the UK, a photographer of a public domain work is entitled to copyright protection of his photographs for 70 years after the photographer’s death or 50 years after first publication if the photographer is not credited.

Where this stuff gets even messier is how international law comes into play like in a case where a UK photograph is used in the US by a US citizen. The question then becomes which jurisdiction applies. Typically, the location of the offense is where any legal action must take place. The question becomes if an American uses a UK photograph, would a US court uphold a law that they do not follow themselves.

What all this means is that I had to decide if I should share photographs of public domain works knowing they may not be in the public domain in places like the UK. I decided that the works of art created by artists like Matisse, Rubens, and Cezanne belong to the world and that no photographer should be essentially gifted with ownership of the original masterpiece simply through taking a picture of that masterpiece. It’s easy for me to take that stance living in the United States where photographs of public domain works are also in the public domain. I’ll leave it up to you as to how you wish to use the any photographs which may be presented on Reusable Art and to research whether or not your country is protecting “non-mechanical” copies of original works in the public domain.

About Me

This website has roots in both my love of creating and my frustrations as a webmaster. Finding images to safely use for my websites has always been a challenge. I’m not particularly skilled at drawing and purchasing the right to use images from even the most reputable of sites can lead to questions of image ownership and copyright. I have dabbled in card making and often spent more time image hunting than I did actually creating my cards. I found myself returning again and again to websites that shared vintage books for images. Hidden amongst all of those words was also some of the most wonderful drawings and illustrations ever made. The problem was the most lovely drawing of a cat might be buried in a children’s book about a boy and his dog. Reusable Art became my way to index my growing list of images and resources into something that be can be used by all creatives.

Meanwhile, this site, and the idea of helping others became a bit of an excuse to not pursue my own artistic endeavors. I’ve learned a huge amount about copyright. I feel like I’ve met many wonderful artists through their work and in the biographies I’ve written. Around 2018, I finally began working more and more on my own creative endeavors. If, I’ve intrigued you to take a look… you can find my work here – Michele Tway. I make mixed media bird sculptures. They combine sculpture, stuffed animals, embroidery, bead embroidery and crochet into a single unified piece. You can find examples of my ever-growing flock here – mixed media bird sculptures.