The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin participates with its data in national and international projects and initiatives to increase the visibility of the cultural heritage it preserves. It provides object illustrations, metadata and texts via Collections Online, the online portal for the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin collections (only in German), as well as various cultural and specialised content sites intended for further use.
With its numerous cultural and research institutions, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin is committed to providing the broadest possible access to the works, media and objects under its care through referencable and permanent digital documentation (accessed via URLs, permalinks).
Data curation belongs to the core tasks of Staatliche Museen zu Berlin employees. Rights of third parties (copyrights, personal rights, etc.) and the FAIR and CARE Principles are consequently taken into account. Authorisation for using object information and digital files related to cultural objects takes the form of a Creative Commons (CC) license.
The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin generally strives for a designation as public domain. This means these object illustrations and the textual information about the objects can:
All object illustrations designated with the reference CC-BY-SA may also be used when accompanied by the name of the copyright holder. No specific permissions are required and these images can also:
All copyright-protected object illustrations are identified accordingly and may only be used with permission of the copyright holder named. Texts and object illustrations that are subject to restrictions due to copyrights, personal rights and intellectual property rights are identified by corresponding Creative Commons licensing information.
The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin asks that the artist/producer and/or name of the object be indicated along with all images. A reference to the museum or a link to an object’s corresponding webpage should also be provided to clarify where the work or the image of the work can be found.
When data is used, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin assumes that corresponding copyright and/or other rights information will be included, accompanied by a link to the license, and specifying if changes have been made.
Example:
Source: author/producer: title, year, in: permalink. Photo: (if indicated) photographer (Public Domain Mark 1.0) [accessed: …]
Artworks could be published as follows:
Franz von Stuck: Tilla Durieux als Circe, c. 1913, in: https://id.smb.museum/object/965465. Photo: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Andres Kilger (Public Domain Mark 1.0) [accessed: 2 May 2022]
Or for archaeological objects:
Brick-shaped alabaster “founding” stone with Cuneiform inscription, c. 2430 BC, in: https://id.smb.museum/object/1743784. Photo: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Olaf Teßmer, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 [accessed: 4 May 2022]
The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin observes the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance. When dealing with data from Indigenous contexts, CARE stands for Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics.
FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin asks users of its digital offers to observe the “Public Domain Usage Guidelines” ‒ recommendations for using museum data that are in effect throughout Europe.
No additional clauses or technical processes may be added that legally prohibit others from doing something the original license has already allowed.
Please contact the bpk-Bildagentur, kontakt[at]bpk-bildagentur.de if you wish to obtain permission to use copyrighted illustrations owned by the SPK. Production costs for providing new digital copies and granting usage permission may be incurred.
We ask that you include the following details along with your image request: intended purpose, type of use (commercial, non-profit), number of copies/visitor website, publication date), author, title, publisher/production.)
If our image material is published in printed matter, we request that specimen copies be sent to the appropriate collection.