# Newbie question about picture acquisition



## Ex-Food-Blogger (Jul 18, 2014)

I have been contracted to write a non-fiction, history book. This particular publisher requires approximately accompanying fifty (50) illustrations. 

Is there an advisable procedure for the acquisition of historic images; for example, paintings of the Renaissance which have been reproduced hundreds of times?

Example, if I wanted to include an image of the Mona Lisa, how would I go about determining a copyright? And, if there is no copyright, how best to go about getting an acceptable digital image?


----------



## dvspec (Jul 18, 2014)

The Mona Lisa would not have a copyright on it. It is way to old. I would suggest looking into a stock photo website and see if they have something. You would have to pay for it of course.
 Check with Web Gallery of Art at www.wga.hu. It is freaking awesome when it comes to the Ren period and they have the paintings in digital form so that they can be viewed on the web. There should be some link on there that gets you to the rights to use the images. 
 Check out this link it's in the wga web site. 

www.wga.hu/index1.html

If you find an image you want to use and it is in another book, go to the front and find the contact info.  Then contact them to see if they hold the copyright.  If they don't they will have gotten permission.  

I would do a google search on how to get permission and the forms needed. 

Thought this was interesting.  http://www.nih.gov/catalyst/2008/08.09.01/page01_copyright.html


----------



## aj47 (Jul 19, 2014)

Also, try wikimedia commons.  Just remember to give credit.


----------



## popsprocket (Jul 19, 2014)

As suggested, stock photo sites are what you are after. Some sites offer their photos for free, while others offer them up for a tiny price tag. Buying the image you need up front is much easier than tracking down the owner of an image that you found through google. Check with the company that contracted you to see if they will foot the bill for any purchases you have to make. Also make sure to read the terms of the stock photo sites you use to make sure that commercial use of the image is allowed.

Just to put it out there. Fair use/education use does _not_ bypass copyright laws where images in a textbook or non-fiction book are concerned.



Ex-Food-Blogger said:


> Example, if I wanted to include an image of the Mona Lisa, how would I go about determining a copyright? And, if there is no copyright, how best to go about getting an acceptable digital image?



This is a tricky one and is one of the areas where it depends on your country. In some places, a photo of a public-domain artwork would not receive its own copyright, i.e. an American takes a photo of a public-domain painting in an American art gallery and puts it online; anyone may use that image as faithful reproduction of the original work and the photographer has no rights over it. But, in England at least, that photo does enjoy copyright protection and cannot be freely used - the photo is the photographer's original property, if not the content.

In which case a stock photo site is still your best option. If the book is going to be making people money, doing it right the first time will benefit everyone.


----------

