Terms and Conditions for Data available in The Vilhelm Hammershøi Digital Archive
The Vilhelm Hammershøi Digital Archive (ViHDA) is built on clear Open Access principles in order to maximize the returns from digitization efforts and create the greatest possible value for users. Overall, the database is structured around the international FAIR principles for scientific data, which stand for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable. The FAIR principles ensure that data are transparent and accessible to both humans and computers. With the help of computing power, research can efficiently and accurately process extensive data sets. Therefore, the data generated in the project must also be readable and processable by machines.
We adhere to European copyright laws. New EU legislation adopted in 2021 prevents the claiming of rights in faithful photographic reproductions of artworks that are out of copyright (where the artist has been deceased for 70 years or more). This affects how we correctly mark recordings of Vilhelm Hammershøi’s works (1864-1916).
To create transparency and eliminate uncertainty among users of ViHDA, we operate with only two simple ways to declare the materials:
1) Public Domain mark (PDM) on all photographic artwork reproductions
2) The open license Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike (CC BY-SA) on all technical image types
These two declarations originate from Creative Commons, a system of open licenses designed to make it simple and clear for users how they may share and reuse digitized material.
Regarding 1 (PDM)
Vilhelm Hammershøi died in 1916. The artistic copyright expires 70 years after the artist’s death. Therefore, Hammershøi’s oeuvre has legally been in the Public Domain since January 1, 1987. Thus, there is nothing to prevent the credible reproductions of his works from being freely available for all purposes. The ViHDA project aims to support interested users—from researchers and students to creatives and entrepreneurs—in exploring ideas that arise from encounters with high-quality images from reliable sources. All pure artwork reproductions in ViHDA are therefore clearly marked with PDM as documentation that the work is in the Public Domain and may be freely used for all purposes.
Regarding 2 (CC BY-SA)
Data created in the ViHDA project is provided by various professional experts and institutions, with different equipment, as necessary to assist users in reading and applying the data accurately and scientifically. Technical image types must at all times be accompanied by relevant contextual metadata. For this reason, ViHDA uses the open license CC BY-SA on technical image types. This license clarifies that the images may be used for any purpose, as long as the source is credited according to the rules. If images are reused, the new context in which they are included must be made available under the same open license to ensure the Open Access knowledge sharing principle.
Crediting Images from ViHDA
How do you credit material found in the ViHDA database, for example if you want to use it in research publications, on websites, or elsewhere? There are two options:
Images in the Public Domain are free of all rights, and thus no crediting is required. However, it is good practice to encourage users to credit the source when using Public Domain images to ensure that knowledge and data follow the images.
Photographic reproductions (PDM)
ViHDA requests users to credit photographic reproductions of Hammershøi’s works as follows:
Artist, Title of the Work, Date (year), Technique, Format, Owner, hammershoi.smk.dk, public domain
An example might be:
Vilhelm Hammershøi, Nude Female Model, 1910, Oil on canvas, 172 x 96.5 cm, The David Collection, hammershoi.smk.dk, public domain
Technical image types (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Sharing and reuse of technical image types in ViHDA require correct crediting according to the Creative Commons licensing rules:
Technical image type, Year of image acquisition [at] institution that created the image, Artist, Title of the Work, dating of art work (year), Owner, hammershoi.smk.dk, CC BY-SA 4.0.
An example might be:
X-ray image, taken 2024 at SMK, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Nude Female Model, 1910, The David Collection, hammershoi.smk.dk, CC BY-SA 4.0
For works in private ownership, “Private ownership” should be noted as “Owner”.
All the above metadata appear on the site.
The principles described above apply to all material in ViHDA. This ensures clarity and security for the users, which lies at the heart of Open Access.