Post #2: The Smithsonian Imposes Copyrights on Public Domain Images

The Smithsonian Images website is built on a repository of 6,288 images from Smithsonian events, exhibits and historical collections. An incredibly rich and valuable resource, the majority of these images are old enough to be in the public domain. In fact, all of the images — no matter their age — are fair use, since works of the United States government are in the public domain and have no copyright protection whatsoever.

The Smithsonian doesn’t see it that way. Not only do they impose copyright restrictions on each and every image, the Smithsonian charges a hefty fee for high resolution images. Visitors can browse categories of photos and download low resolution watermarked images for personal and educational use. High resolution images without the watermark can be downloaded for a fee — as much as $200 for a 600 dpi 8 x 10. Restrictions even extend beyond copyright. According to the Smithsonian, images may be protected by copyright and by “other restrictions as well.” In the case of some images, the Smithsonian notes that, “even in the absence of copyright, Smithsonian still reserves all rights to image use.”

In order to circumvent the lack of copyright protection for US government works, the Smithsonian distinguishes between federal employees and trust employees. Beyond the legal issue of whether or not the Smithsonian can copyright and restrict images that are already in the public domain or have been produced by public employees, the question also is whether this practice is within the mission of a tax-supported public institution. Shouldn’t the American public have free and unrestricted access to American historical images produced within the scope of a taxpayer supported institution?

One nonprofit group is challenging the Smithsonian on this practice. Public.Resource.Org has downloaded all 6,288 images onto Flickr, and has purchased several high-resolution images to make them available for use without copyright restrictions. Some legal experts sympathize but don’t necessarily agree that the restrictions imposed by the Smithsonian are illegal. Personally, I applaud the challenge by Public.Resource.Org and hope the Smithsonian agrees to full and unfettered public access to our nation’s historic images.