Visual Resources Center
Visual Resources Center
The Visual Resources Center is dedicated to supporting teaching and research at the University of Delaware. Our digital image collections illustrate the global history of art and architecture from prehistory to the present and are always available online to current University of Delaware faculty, staff, and students in all disciplines. The Visual Resources Center's staff is here to assist members of the University of Delaware community in creating and using digital media.
Quick Links
Artstor on JSTOR | Image Order Form | News | Open-Access Collections
Open-Access Collections
The following institutions have adopted open-access policies, which allow you to download and use images of public-domain works in their collections without having to obtain permission or pay a fee. In many cases you are free to use these images however you wish, but sometimes there are additional restrictions and stipulations, so pay close attention to each institution's rights statement. Open-access policies apply only to the images, and not to the works of art themselves, so copyrighted works made since about 1900 are generally excluded.
Copyright
Disclaimer: This is intended only to provide general information on copyright, and should not be cited in defense of any particular use of protected works or images. Always consult a copyright professional if you have questions.
All images in the Visual Resources Center are subject to copyright law. These images are intended solely for purposes of teaching, scholarship, and research at the University of Delaware, and may not be used for any commercial purposes. Images in the Visual Resources Center may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or likewise. It is the sole responsibility of the user to secure any and all permissions from the appropriate copyright owners before publishing an image or using it in anything but a nonprofit, educational capacity. The Visual Resources Center does not own the copyright to any of the materials in its collection, and cannot grant any requests for permission to reproduce these materials.
Like an author's book, an artist's work of art (e.g., painting, sculpture, photograph) is considered the intellectual property of the person who created it. Copyright is a legal means of protecting a person's intellectual property from unauthorized use by others. Copyright can apply to the work of art itself, but also to a photographic reproduction of that work of art, as well as to a book in which that photographic reproduction is published.
The protection of intellectual property under United States law is authorized in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution. Today, Title 17 of the United States Code defines exactly what qualifies for copyright protection, and stipulates how long that protection will last before a work eventually passes into the public domain.
Copyright protection extends for a fixed number of years after either the creation of a work, the publication of a work, or the death of the artist or author, depending on the case. Under current law, copyright on works of art created by a known artist generally expires 70 years after the artist's death. Whenever the artist's death date cannot be established (either the artist is unknown or a corporate body is considered to be the artist), works are covered for 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever comes first.
Architectural works (i.e., buildings) completed before 1990 are not typically protected by copyright. However, an architect's drawings are treated as works of art, and would therefore be protected for 70 years after the architect's death. Architectural works completed in 1990 or later are generally protected by copyright. However, if a copyrighted architectural work is in a public place, you are permitted to photograph it without infringing upon the architect's copyright.
Works that are no longer protected by copyright are said to be in the public domain. Most works made prior to the 20th century fall into this category. Anyone may freely reproduce public-domain works.
However, even if a work of art is itself in the public domain, a given photographic image of it may not be. Unless you yourself made the photograph of the public-domain work in person, an image of that work is probably copyrighted by someone else. Professional photographers, museums, and publishers usually require permission (and often a fee) before you can reproduce their images of public-domain works from sources like websites or books.
For works of art that are already in the public domain, some cultural institutions have implemented open-access policies, which allow you to download and use images of these works without having to obtain permission or pay a fee. In many cases you are free to use these images however you wish, but sometimes there are additional restrictions and stipulations, so pay close attention to each institution's rights statement. Open-access policies apply only to the images, and not to the works of art themselves, so copyrighted works made since about 1900 are generally excluded.
A list of open-access collections can be found here.
All of the images on the Visual Resources Center's web pages come from open-access sources.
Copyrighted materials are permitted in the Visual Resources Center because of the fair use limitation to copyright protection, which allows them to be used for purposes that are educational and non-commercial in nature. Because of fair use, instructors may show these images in the classroom, and students may use them to illustrate their own class assignments. However, publishing these images in a book or posting them on an unrestricted website is not considered fair use.
- United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress
- Fair Use Index, United States Copyright Office
- Intellectual Property Guide, University of Delaware
- Research Guide to Copyright, University of Delaware Library
- Copyright Checkpoint, Artstor on JSTOR
- Copyright Advisory Services, Columbia University
- Copyright and Fair Use, Stanford University Libraries
- Copyright Crash Course, University of Texas Libraries
- Copyright Information Center, Cornell University Library
- Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, College Art Association
- Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study, Visual Resources Association
- Creative Commons
- RightsStatements.org
Digital Collections
Artstor on JSTOR
Artstor Collections on JSTOR contain more than 2 million images covering the arts, architecture, the humanities, and the social sciences. JSTOR Forum allows the University of Delaware to integrate its own local content into JSTOR. Our Institutional Collection, UD Art History: Visual Resources Center, contains more than 100,000 images that are available only to UD users in JSTOR.
Connecting to Artstor on JSTOR
All current University of Delaware faculty, staff, and students have access to the digital collections in JSTOR. After registering for an account , you can log in either directly on the JSTOR website or through the UD Library website. More information is available at JSTOR Support.
Use of the Collections
All images from the Visual Resources Center are intended solely for teaching and research purposes at the University of Delaware, and may not be reproduced or published in any form.
Location
Visual Resources Center
Department of Art History
University of Delaware
211 Old College
Newark, Delaware 19716
Telephone: 302-831-1460
Email: visualresources@udel.edu
Hours of Operation
Monday to Friday
9:00 am to 5:00 pm
The Visual Resources Center is closed evenings and weekends, as well as all University holidays, observances, and breaks.
Staff
Derek D. Churchill
Director, Visual Resources
211A Old College
Telephone: 302-831-1460
Email: ddc@udel.edu
Opportunities for Students
The Visual Resources Center offers a variety of opportunities for University of Delaware students:
- Undergraduate Work-Study Positions (students must be eligible for work-study)
- Undergraduate Internships in Visual Resources Management
- Graduate Research Assistantships (Department of Art History graduate students only)
For more information about any of these opportunities, please contact the Visual Resources Center at visualresources@udel.edu.
