Dmiiart online: how to view, find and use images of artworks

An independent reference about artworks on the internet. It is not the website of a museum or cultural institution, does not sell tickets or reproductions, and is not connected with the former website on this domain.

Guides

Practical guides

Finding a picture is easy; making sure it is accurate and that you are allowed to use it takes a few minutes of careful work. Here you will find step-by-step advice and short guides for typical situations, from a school project to a family album.

Five minutes spent checking the rights costs less than an awkward email asking you to take an image down.

— Editors' view

How this section works: we describe the steps in general terms, because collection websites are all organised differently. We do not name specific museums, services or programs, and we give legal information only as it appears in the text of the law. The legal points refer to Russian law; rules elsewhere may differ.

Short guides

Five tasks that people working with images of art come across most often.

Read an object record

The title, date, materials, dimensions and inventory number help you understand exactly what is shown and tell the object apart from similar ones.

Object records (in Russian)

Examine details on screen

Zoom in gradually and compare different views if there are any. Remember that on-screen colour depends on your monitor settings.

Object photos (in Russian)

Find the original source of a picture

A reverse image search shows where else a picture appears and helps you reach the earliest and most detailed version.

Tools

Tell the public domain from a licence

In the first case you need no permission at all; in the second you must meet the conditions set by the author.

Comparisons

Make sure a museum website is genuine

Before you buy a ticket or enter your details, check the web address and the institution's official details.

Museum websites (in Russian)

Article catalogue

This catalogue will gradually fill with standalone Dmii articles written specifically for English-speaking readers.

Topics we are preparing

  • How to make sense of dates, attributions and provenance in an online object record
  • Getting more from a virtual museum tour than a quick scroll
  • Scanning and labelling a family archive of drawings and letters
  • Citing an image of an artwork in an essay, slideshow or school project

Editorial rules

  • Articles in this catalogue are written separately for each language version and are not translations.
  • Some articles link to third-party websites, including gaming services; we do not control their content, prices or terms.
  • We do not publish advertising for museums, galleries, shops or services, rankings, prices or reviews.

How to use an image of an artwork without infringing rights

  1. Work out exactly what you are taking

    Distinguish between the work itself and an image of it. A painting has an author, but a photograph of a painting or of a three-dimensional object may have its own rights holder — whoever took or published the photo.

    A flat antique engraving and a photo of a carved box with its own lighting and angle are different cases.

  2. Find out how long the work is protected

    Under Article 1281 of the Russian Civil Code, copyright lasts for the author's lifetime plus 70 years, counted from 1 January of the year after the author's death. There are exceptions, and terms differ in other countries, so check the law that applies where you live.

  3. Check whether it is in the public domain

    Once the term expires, the work enters the public domain: it can be used without consent or payment. Under Russian law, however, authorship and the author's name are protected indefinitely — so always credit the work.

  4. Read the terms next to the file

    The website that publishes an image usually says whether it may be downloaded and for what purpose. An open licence permits use on the author's terms: under a CC BY licence, for example, you must credit the author.

  5. If there are no terms, ask

    When it is unclear who owns the rights to a photo, write to the website owner or the rights holder. Keep any reply granting permission together with the file.

  6. Caption the image in full

    Give the artist, title, date, materials, where the work is held, the source of the file and the terms of use. If you cropped or altered the image, say so in the caption.

  7. Keep evidence

    Note the page address and the date you accessed it, and take a screenshot of the terms. If the website's rules change, you will still have a record of what you relied on.

  • Tools

    The kinds of tools available: online collections, reverse image search, zoomable viewers, scanners, colour charts and metadata.

  • Comparisons

    Scan or photo, online collection or search result, open licence or public domain — a comparison of what really matters.

  • Problems

    The image is blurry, the colours are off, the author is unknown, captions disagree, a tour will not load — what to check, in order.

  • Glossary

    Terms in plain English: registering museum objects, resolution and colour accuracy, copyright and licences.

  • Object records (in Russian)

    The old address of the collection section: what a museum object record contains and how to cite it.

Sources

  • Civil Code of the Russian Federation (arts. 1281, 1282)
  • Creative Commons — licence descriptions (in general terms)

Information on copyright terms, the public domain, open licences and the registration of museum objects was checked against the texts of the laws and the licence descriptions as of the date this page was prepared. The legal points refer to Russian law; terms and exceptions differ from country to country, so check the rules where you live. Online collections and image viewers work differently on different websites, so we describe them in general terms.