We want the NOTCHES blog to be a vibrant online forum and exciting site for discussing the history of sexuality. To that end, we welcome the inclusion of images and photos with blog submissions, in fact, all submissions must include at least one image.

It is important, however, that we respect copyright and any restrictions put on the circulation of images. So, it is your responsibility to ensure that images are copyright cleared. In the first instance, you may use public domain images, sites like Wikimedia Commons, other public domain and creative commons searches, and your own personal collections to supply images to accompany blogs. Getty Images has also made much of its incredible archive of historical photographs and images available free to non-commercial users. And google images offers “usage rights” search tool to limit image search results to those marked for reuse.

Many libraries, museums, and other collections also have generous reproduction policies, allowing bloggers to use images from their websites with appropriate attribution. Always check what the policies are from the site where you accessed the image. If the policy is unclear or unstated, it is your responsibility to contact the institution to clarify reuse policies. Other photo sharing sites, like Flickr, include clear copyright information to accompany some images. Many copyright holders are content for images to be reposted with attribution and a backlink, but some are not. You must determine this and secure permissions.

Whatever the source of your image, you must also provide a caption and clear attribution information for us to include in the blog post. See examples on the NOTCHES blog. Wherever possible, also provide a hyperlink to the original location so that we can include this in the post as well.

In some instances, you may be commenting on contemporary events, issues, and topics of immediate relevance (always within a historical context). In these instances, because we derive no commercial gain from the NOTCHES blog, a degree of “fair use” or “fair dealing” may be involved. This allows for the limited use of illustration and images for the purposes of comment, critique, etc. Use of images in these instances will be determined on a case by case basis in collaboration with blog editors.

If you are ever in doubt about the use of an image, do feel free to contact us as you prepare your post.

NOTCHES Editors,

January 2015