3 ms·

> the blog-like, search-unfriendly interface It's blog-like because it's just a blog. > combined with the dubious unstated origin and licensing of the images

> the blog-like, search-unfriendly interface It's blog-like because it's just a blog. > combined with the dubious unstated origin and licensing of the images It's stated in the sidebar on every page. Still dubious, though many are transformations of LoC images which the blog owner claims copyright on. It's a cool archive, but no, it's not for use/reuse. Browse it for fun but understand it's a commercial enterprise designed to profit off public domain works.

kps 10y ago
> Still dubious, though many are transformations of LoC images > which the blog owner claims copyright on. Specifically, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/ http://www.loc.gov/pictures/ — hundreds of thousands of catalogued, searchable images.
mattkrause 10y ago
> commercial enterprise designed to profit off public domain works As it goes, this seems fairly benign to me... * The original photos are readily available. A link directly to each photo might be a bit more "commons-friendly", but you can find most of the images by searching for the title on the Library of Congress page, which is linked on every image. * There's at least a bit of work, both in curating the collection and retouching the individual photos. I tried to cheap out by cleaning up one of the originals and printing it myself. It's more difficult and time-consuming than you might think. It's unclear to me what the status of a retouched public domain photo is. I could imagine that they are derivative works, particularly if that retouching has some sort of creative component (e.g., patching gaps or painting over creases) vs. something entirely automatic. * Even if they gave away the high-res retouched files, I suspect most of the value comes from having them printed and attractively framed. Clearly this isn't a service that will be given away for free.

kps 10y ago

> Still dubious, though many are transformations of LoC images > which the blog owner claims copyright on. Specifically, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/ http://www.loc.gov/pictures/ — hundreds of thousands of catalogued, searchable images.

mattkrause 10y ago

> commercial enterprise designed to profit off public domain works As it goes, this seems fairly benign to me... * The original photos are readily available. A link directly to each photo might be a bit more "commons-friendly", but you can find most of the images by searching for the title on the Library of Congress page, which is linked on every image. * There's at least a bit of work, both in curating the collection and retouching the individual photos. I tried to cheap out by cleaning up one of the originals and printing it myself. It's more difficult and time-consuming than you might think. It's unclear to me what the status of a retouched public domain photo is. I could imagine that they are derivative works, particularly if that retouching has some sort of creative component (e.g., patching gaps or painting over creases) vs. something entirely automatic. * Even if they gave away the high-res retouched files, I suspect most of the value comes from having them printed and attractively framed. Clearly this isn't a service that will be given away for free.