SECTION 1: REPRODUCTIONS 

Initial follow-up  

(If pertinent info has not been provided) 

Thank you for your interest in the Science History Institute. Please take a few moments to answer the following questions to help me complete your request: 

1. How do you intend to use the requested [image/video] (e.g., personal use, publication, exhibit, etc.)?  

2. What [image/video] format do you require? Example formats may include a high-resolution TIFF file or web-quality JPEG.  

3. Do you have a deadline by which you need to receive the [image(s)/video(s)]? Please note that the average turn-around time for digitization is about 2 weeks, though a rush job can be arranged if necessary. 

Thank you and we look forward to fulfilling your rights and reproduction needs. 

Fee waived (existing digital image) 

Thank you for your interest in the Science History Institute. We have an existing digital image of this item on hand. The technical specifications and copyright of this image are as follows: 

[insert file size, resolution, and type] 

[insert applicable copyright information] 

If this image meets your needs, we are happy to provide it to you free of charge. If you require other specifications, the item may need to be re-digitized. Please let me know how you wish to proceed and if you have any additional questions. I look forward to fulfilling your rights and reproduction needs. 

Fee Explanation/Invoicing 

Thank you for your interest in the Science History Institute our materials.  We would be happy to provide you with a high-resolution [image(s)/video] of [enter requested item title].

A) Our reproduction fee, which covers the labor and equipment cost associated with fulfilling on-demand digitization requests, is $50/hour (minimum 1 hour).  

1. I estimate the total digitization time for this request will take approximately [insert estimate for digitization time] for a cost of approximately [$X].  

If you wish to proceed, please provide me with a mailing address to which we can direct an invoice, and I will file a request with our Business Office. Then I’ll proceed with digitization and you’ll receive the images via a link to our file share server.  

B) You are requesting relatively few works and only for research use, so we will waive the fee for this request on this occasion. 

Do you have a deadline by which you need to receive the [image(s)/video(s)]? Please note that the average turn-around time for digitization is about 2 weeks, though a rush job can be arranged if necessary. Additionally, if you have any specifications for the image (resolution, JPEG or TIFF, etc.), please let me know. 

Thank you and we look forward to fulfilling your rights and reproduction needs. 

Content Delivery Message 

The [image(s)/video(s)] you requested from the Science History Institute [is/are] ready to be downloaded.  Please click on the link provided and download the image as soon as possible.  The link will expire in 30 days. 

If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me at [insert e-mail address]. 

SECTION 2: RIGHTS 

Public Domain  

Thank you for your interest in reproducing an image from our collection.  

1. The [work from which this image was taken/volume in which this image appears] was published before 1926  

2. The [work from which this image was taken/volume in which this image appears] is a United States federal government document 

3. The [work from which this image was taken/volume in which this image appears] was not published with a copyright notice, or the copyright was not renewed (a requirement during the time of publication) 

4. The [work from which this image was taken/volume in which this image appears] was never published and its creator deceased prior to 1952 

and is therefore in the public domain under American law. Furthermore, the Science History Institute does not assert any additional rights or otherwise restrict the use of digitized images of our collection materials.  Accordingly, you are free to copy, modify, or distribute the image without permission. To assist other researchers and in recognition of the work of our institution and collections staff, we request that the image please be credited “Courtesy of Science History Institute,” and include a link to our Digital Collections record if you are publishing to a digital medium, though you are not required to do so. Should you choose to use the image, it can be downloaded directly from our Digital Collections site in several sizes and formats. 

More information about Science History Institute’s copyright policies can be found on our website. If you have additional questions, please feel free to email me. 

CC-BY License (Copyright held by Digital Collections) 

Thank you for contacting the Science History Institute and your interest in  

1. The creator or copyright holder of the [work from which this image was taken/volume in which this image appears] transferred their copyright to the Science History Institute at the time of donation 

2. The photograph was taken by the Science History Institute 

Therefore, the Science History Institute holds the copyright of this work; however, it is available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. This means that you are free to copy, modify, and redistribute the picture as long as you credit the Institute.  To assist other researchers and in recognition of the work of our institution and collections staff, we request that the image be credited “Courtesy of Science History Institute" and include a link to our Digital Collections record if you are publishing to a digital medium, please. 

More information about the license terms can be read here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ and more information about Science History Institute’s copyright policies can be found on our website.

Please note that additional trademark, patent, intellectual property rights, or other legal restrictions may apply due to the commercial nature of the materials photographed. Should you choose to use the image, it can be downloaded directly from our Digital Collections site in several sizes and formats. 

If you have additional questions, please feel free to email me. 

No Known Copyright  

Thank you for your interest in the Science History Institute. We would be happy for you to use the image of [item title] from our Digital Collections site. As detailed on the catalog record, there is no known copyright associated with this work. Essentially, this means that the work is likely out of copyright, however a definitive determination couldn’t be made. In assigning this rights statement, I considered the date of the work, whether it might have been published with a copyright notice, and whether the notice would have been renewed (a requirement to maintain copyright during that time). For additional information, please refer to the standardized rights statement.  

In instances such as these, it also would be useful for you to consider whether your intended use of the work may be considered “fair use” that negates the need to seek permission from a copyright holder, should one exist. To make such an assessment, this resource may be helpful.  

Should you choose to use the image, it can be downloaded directly from our Digital Collections site in several sizes and formats. To assist other researchers and in recognition of the work of our institution and collections staff, we request that the image please be credited “Courtesy of Science History Institute,” and include a link to our Digital Collections record if you are publishing to a digital medium, though you are not required to do so. If you have additional questions, please feel free to email me.  

Legacy Research Images/Not Part of Institute Collections 

Thank you for your interest in the Science History Institute. The image that you identified was supplied to us by [insert relevant source information] for use in [insert relevant info on publication, project, etc.] As such, the photo was never formally gifted to the Institute or accessioned to our archival collections. Accordingly, we do not assert any copyright to the photo and cannot grant you permission to use it. Ultimately, we have no objection to your use of the photo, but it is up to you to determine if any permission is needed for your intended use. Additional information about our policy is available on our website. 

If you have additional questions, please feel free to email me. 

In Copyright – Unknown Rights Holders 

Thank you for your interest in the Science History Institute and for your request to reproduce the image of [item title] from our Digital Collections Site. This work has been assigned the copyright status, In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable. Accordingly, we do not assert any copyright to the work and cannot grant you permission to use it. Ultimately, we have no objection to your use of the work, but it is up to you to determine if any permission is needed for your intended use. Additional information about our policy is available on our website. 

In instances such as these, it also would be useful for you to consider whether your intended use of the photo may be considered “fair use” that negates the need to seek permission from a copyright holder, should one exist. To make such an assessment, the following resource may be helpful: https://www.copyright.gov/.  

Should you choose to use the image, it can be downloaded directly from our Digital Collections site in several sizes and formats. To assist other researchers and in recognition of the work of our institution and collections staff, we request that the image please be credited “Courtesy of Science History Institute,” and include a link to our Digital Collections record if you are publishing to a digital medium, though you are not required to do so. 

If you have additional questions, please feel free to email me. 

In Copyright 

Thank you for your interest in the Science History Institute and for your request to reproduce the image of [item title] from our Digital Collections Site. This work, due to its date of creation and publication, is protected by copyright law. To our knowledge, the copyright is held by [Insert Copyright Holders Name].  

Accordingly, we do not assert any copyright to the work and cannot grant you permission to use it. Ultimately, we have no objection to your use of the [photo(s)/video(s)], but it is up to you to determine if any permission is needed for your intended use. Additional information about our policy is available on our website.  

In instances such as these, it also would be useful for you to consider whether your intended use of the photo may be considered “fair use” that negates the need to seek permission from a copyright holder, should one exist. To make such an assessment, this resource may be helpful. Should you choose to use the image, it can be downloaded directly from our Digital Collections site in several sizes and formats.  

If you have additional questions, please feel free to email me. 

Legacy Images from Wikimedia Commons  

** For each Wikimedia Commons Image, investigate: 

Check if it’s an image in our collections. Recruit Patrick and Kent if necessary.  

1. Yes, in collections.  

   1. Determine copyright status.  

   2. Update the Rights information on Wikipedia and  

   3. Add the digital object to Digital Collections.  

2. Not in collections.  

   1. Search the P: Drive for source. The Wikipedian-in-Residence sometimes drew from a bank of images that were used in various places, such as the website, Distillation’s magazine, annual report, etc.  

   2. If you can’t find background on how we got this image, ask Clare and/or Clay, who might be able to supplement whatever you found on the P: Drive.  

We don’t necessarily own these – careful with copyright. 

Note: Use of CC licenses is historically unreliable. It is possible that we don’t own this image, in which case you can point them toward that CC license, as you suggested, but then we might also want to talk about possibly pulling it down. 

*Use No Known Copyright as opposed to “Copyright undetermined” for works for which we cannot determine copyright status. 

Thank you for your interest in the Science History Institute. The image you have found on Wikipedia was made available on Wikimedia Commons for re-use with attribution under a Creative Commons license.  Accordingly, you are free to the photo if it is attributed back to the Science History Institute (for example, a footnote with the line “Courtesy of the Science History Institute”). Since the Institute has applied a Creative Commons license to the photo, no additional license from us is required for its use. For more information, please refer to the rights information provided in the Wikimedia Commons record for this image: [insert link to image]