I would like to share with the members a little bit about my free graphics website. The site is called Reusable Art. In many ways it is a site that will always be under construction as I plan to continually add new images and categories as I find them.
The premise of the site is that I research old books, magazines and other periodicals that are truly out of copyright and in the public domain for pictures and drawings that might be useful to crafters. Rather than to let these wonderful works of art forever languish between the dusty pages of these books my site shares them so that they may be seen and enjoyed again by a new generation.
All of the art appearing on the site has been fully researched to ensure that they original copyrights have truly expired. Copyright law does not require that the original artist must be acknowledged once the piece has shifted to the public domain. I think the artists deserve that recognition and Reusable Art was designed to celebrate these old works and lists the original artists as well as the original publications with every image on the site. This information is also included so that people living in countries other than the US can ensure the images have fallen into the public domain in their countries as well.
The site includes a much longer discussion of copyrights as well as a list of the laws governing copyrights in most of the countries of the world. Might make for interesting reading even for folks not currently looking for pictures. There's also a link to the Wikipedia article that lists the copyright durations for each country. About Us :: Reusable Art
I hope it might prove a useful resource to crafters here and everywhere.
Here's a link or simply click on the graphic in my signature.
Thank you Michelle for the link to your wonderful website! What beautiful images, thank you for making them available to all of us!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I had begun to wonder if it was a bad idea when no one said anything.
I would love to see any projects you come up with using something from my site.
Do you have any suggestions as to types of pictures that you think crafters might find useful? My creative endeavors usually involve yarn and fabric as my drawing and visual design skills are terrible so I don't really have a feel for what people are looking for and having trouble finding.
Michele,,,Thank you ,,I have a question, can these images be used it grahics?
Thanks,,,Kat
Hi Kat,
I have gotten paranoid about ensuring that all of the images on the site are truly copyright free and in the public domain. It is kinda sad that so many of these wonderful illustrators have been lost to history. I have a stack of awesome stuff that hangs in limbo until I can learn more about the artists that created it.
I've made several phone calls to the US Copyright Office and researched, researched, and did even more research before even launching the site. And every single image is thoroughly researched before being posted too.
As long as the country you live in and/or sell your work in extends copyrights 70 full years after death or 120 years after first publication when the creator is not known (most of the world), the images can be used for anything. (There are 20 or so images out of the 400 there now that are questionable but they are well marked and are all together.)
I'm trying to keep my answer here short there's more info on the site about copyrights around the world - About Us :: Reusable Art
Use any of them for anything. Can't wait to see what folks more talented than me do with them.
I will be continually adding more.
Michele
My favorite sites, even if they are mine...
http://www.reusableart.com - Where old art that has entered the public domain is celebrated and reused by today's crafters.
Copyright Free Vintage Images 
Thank you so much for your kind words. I had begun to wonder if it was a bad idea when no one said anything.
Linear Mode
