V&A pics, need help making a web page.

[Kimberley Arnold Mitchell]

I am trying to comply with the terms in the V&A image licensing agreement so that I can post the images I took while there earlier this month. I currently have the images up on a private Picasa page, which nobody can view without the authorization key. I put them up so that the V&A people could see what I was going to do and to assure them that my intentions were authentic.

The images are protected so that nobody can capture them, print them or copy in any way, but apparently the V&A does not like them being up on Picasa, so I of course will do whatever it takes to make them happy.. They want me to put them up on a personal web page, and I am a bit lost as I do not have a personal page, have never put one up and have no clue where to start. If anyone here has pointers or suggestions I would really appreciate the help. I really want to get these images up so that others can study the stitches and see the various macro shots that I was able to get.. I think these images will be a valuable tool and I want to get them up as soon as possible.

:)
~Kimberley

[Elizabeth]

You could try a websearch for 'Free web space' and see what services there are that you could work with. Many have special editor things (like on blogs) for those who don't know the ins and outs of HTML coding. Try creating a mini gallery there (perhaps using some photos of your own to start with before using the V&A ones) and see how it looks.

Hope that helps at least a little.

[Tricia Hutchinson]

Hi Kimberley...

How about starting a blog rather than a web site... I use www.wordpress.com there is lots of help to get you started... if you would like any further help please do contact me... looking forward to seeing your photos...

best wishes

Tricia

[Kimberley Arnold Mitchell]

Well, the exact wording of the pertinent sentence is thus:

"Were you to set up your own personal website as a research/reference tool, please let us know and we should be able to help further as long as you can accept our terms and conditions as attached."

So, I am not sure that a blog, hosted by another company, would meet their requirements. I am a paralegal, but my expertise is in real estate, not copyright law., which is why I am treading gently here. I am fairly certain that theV&A does not want any parent site being able to claim ownership of the material that was posted, or for the parent site to clain they had the right to use any images or to grant other people the right to use the images, as the subject matter is owned by the V&A and they are the only ones who have the right to grant usage on any level.

I also have about 150 images that we are talking about here. That is another consideration.
.
I took Elizabeth's suggestion and am looking into http://www.justhost.com/#ic. They do have templates available, and the price is very reasonable. I do not want to have ads popping up on my webpage that could detract from the intended academic purpose. I feel a certain reverence for these items and do not want anything to take away from how special they are. If I can achieve my goal and do it without ads, then I do not mind paying a small fee each month.

My goal is strictly to be able to have these images available for research and study. I spent about 8 years dreaming of seeing some of these items, and that was 8 years that I was uncertain of stitches used in particular parts because I could not actually visit the V&A. The photos of one particiular item were slightly blurred at close range, and so not good for stitch identification. I could have guessed, but I wanted to know. I have also found that many of these items are not even listed in the V&A image database. My only intended use for these images is as a research and study tool, and I will do whatever it takes to get permission to put them up for others to use.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Judy B]

Do you know what their tems and conditions are?

[Elizabeth]

I'm a bit puzzled here. Who took the photos concerned? If you did, then the V&A own the subject matter, but not the pictures of it - which they freely allow visitors to take. I'm no legal-eagle, but I'm wondering about this.

Anyway, hope you manage to get something satisfactory sorted and thanks to Judy for the free web-hosting site that allows one to sell - just what *I* needed!=)

[Kimberley Arnold Mitchell]

Actually, the V&A policy regarding photos taken in the galleries states: Photographs or videos taken in the Galleries may only be for personal use. Commercial use of any kind is not permitted. So, it is pretty clear that people who go there and take pictures and then post them on web pages are actually in violation of their copyright laws. Would the V&A prosecute a person who took photos of items that they liked during a visit and then posted to their personal photo page? I don't know.

My situation is that I took a large chunk of these photos during a private session with a curator who had taken out items that are not generally on display in the museum. Most of these are not even in their photo data base. Even most of the ones that were out in flat glass cases for me to take out and photograph in the study room are not found in their photo database. My goal is to get the images up so that people who want to learn more about this type of embroidery but cannot get to the museum can have a better chance of actually seeing the motifs so they can decide what is the best stitch to use. I was amazed at what I was able to learn by actually seeing so many different motifs on different articles, and I know that these images will help others in making their choices in how to do their embroideries.

So, yes, it is important to me to actually have the permission of the V&A. My paralegal self just won't let me go ahead and post these images without it. I am, however, confident that once I meet their requirements that there will be no problems. I have found several pages where people have posted images from the V&A, and they clearly state that they have permission to do so. It may take a little more time, like another month or so, but as soon as I am moved back to the States and settled in I will get to work on it. I have had a very generous offer from another historical interpreter to host the images on her page, so I am thinking seriously about taking her up on it. It will all work out, I am confident Thanks to the suggestions from here. I will definitely keep ya'll posted and will let you know when the page is UP and running!

:)

[Elizabeth]

My first thought was, 'What constitutes commercial use?' To me, that tends to suggest that one would be making money from the photos, but an on-line reference/research gallery doesn't seem to fall into that category to my mind. What do you think? I'm still puzzling over the connection, but at the end of the day, you have to be certain and comfy about what you're doing, so it's your feelings etc that really count. I just don't see how your idea could be interpreted as being commercial unless your visitors had to pay to see a password protected part of the site.

[Kimberley Arnold Mitchell]

Part of the problem is that the V&A believes that someone else could take the images and use them for profit, like in a book or something. I realize that putting up the pictures for scholarly research is not commercial, but I do know that some people are not as ethical as perhaps they should be. I have had art photos of my own stolen by a friend, used for a school competition and then this person was graded on them. It was not until I saw a gallery showing that I realized what had happened, and I had to rat this guy out to his school. No fun for anyone that day.

Ultimately I do not believe that it is a matter of what makes me feel comfy, but a matter of doing what I believe is right. I have carefully read the policies of the V&A, and while I may not agree with them 100% that is not the point. The items belong to the V&A and I will honor their requirements in order to legally post them on my web page. I guess that a few weeks of waiting will be worth it in the end.

I really appreciate all of the thoughts and suggestions here.

[Judy B]

Be warned, Elizabeth, you can only list about 5 items, but that is enough to test the waters, and if all goes well you can start paying for it later.

[Judy B]

I have tried setting up a website with Webs.com ..... it is a free site if you are selling just a few items, so is ideal for somewhere to show off photos of quilts or anything else. It takes a while to sort out what you are doing, but you can make everything private until you are ready to share with the world. (I am not ready to face the world there yet.)

I have a blog at Wordpress too, and once again you can make it private until you are ready to face the world, there are internal forums to go to for help if you can't find it in the help files.

Best of luck, let us know if you set something up.

[Kimberley Arnold Mitchell]

Haha, I have a blog at Wordpress that I have made exactly one entry in....I am just not very disciplined when it comes to blogs, and I have been on livejournal for years. I have another blog as well, that I initially set up to be strictly a needlework blog, but I so suck at trying to keep things separate. I tend to just blog, period, about whatever is relevant to me at that moment in my life. I know, bad me, right? I think I have this situation with the V&A pics sorted, and will hopefully have the site up and running by September.

:)

[Judy B]

Don't forget to let us know when we can have a look!