no subject

[taimatsu]

I need a digital image of an antique map (ideally of England/the British Isles) for a piece of artwork. I have found various not-quite-right things on stock image websites. The sort of thing I want is the kind of image antiques dealers display on their websites as an example of their stock, but I am uncertain of the copyright status of those images. Where can I find such an image and be sure that I am permitted to use it?

Comments

[kmazzy.livejournal.com]

i have no clue as to where you could find such a thing. i just wanted to say that every time i see that icon i think it should be tai-ma-tsu rather than taim-atsu.

ps if you practice knitting you can do easy stuff while watching tv. just not hard stuff with counting or complicated stitches.

*loves*

[thinkstoomuch.livejournal.com]

http://yotophoto.com/
http://copyrightfriendly.wikispaces.com/

Those look like handy places to start. Quite possible you have already started there though :)

Copyleft is a good search term to put in, it's how I got those. Also, "creative commons". The second site has links to explanations of both those licensing terms.

[hsenag.livejournal.com]

Presumably you mean significantly older than 50 years? Otherwise there http://www.npemap.org.uk

[nickys.livejournal.com]

http://www.nls.uk/maps/index.html has maps of Scotland anyway. Copyright info is on the site.

[(Anonymous)]

This might be stupid to point out and I'm sure you've already thought of it, but could you not just email said places and ask to use the picture or at least ask what their picture policy is?

[gnimmel.livejournal.com]

Wikimedia commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) is often a good place to look for images you can definitely use. Searching for 'map' or 'atlas' appears to turn up a few things.

[skibbley.livejournal.com]

http://www.doverbooks.co.uk/ may be helpful and I think they sell CDs too.

[mrdreadful.livejournal.com]

The copyright shouldn't be an issue as it would normally be long expired for antique maps... however, if the original map was commissioned by the crown the copyright may still stand.
(see, I did gain something useful from my time at English Heretics)

[lovingboth]

The copyright on the map has probably long expired, but not the copyright on the photo.

[addedentry.livejournal.com]

The excellent Perry-Castaneda Library (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/history_europe.html) website is packed with scans of pretty maps and says explicitly:

Most of the maps scanned by the University of Texas Libraries and served from this web site are in the public domain. No permissions are needed to copy them. You may download them and use them as you wish. We appreciate credit to "University of Texas Libraries" as the source of the scanned images.

The equally excellent David Rumsey Map Collection (http://www.davidrumsey.com/directory/where/Europe/British+Isles/) has a Creative Commons licence and says: "Images may be reproduced or transmitted, but not for commercial use" -- which may or may not suit you.

Have fun!