---
name: artbull-images-and-permissions
description: Use to plan and execute the illustration, copyright-permission, and reproduction-quality workflow for an Art Bulletin article — the distinctive, slow, author-funded task of art-historical publishing. The author secures and pays for rights and supplies high-resolution images. Manages the image workflow; it does not grant rights or waive fees.
---

# Images & Permissions (artbull-images-and-permissions)

This is the skill that most distinguishes art-history publishing. The Art Bulletin requires
**illustrations**, and it is the **author's responsibility to obtain and pay for reproduction
permissions and photography**. Clearance is **slow and expensive**, so start it the moment the key
images are known — in parallel with the writing, not after. At submission, images go in **one Word
file (max 20 images, ≤ 10 MB)**; **high-resolution files are supplied promptly on acceptance**.

## When to trigger

- As soon as you know which works the argument depends on (start clearance now)
- Building the illustration list, captions, and credit lines
- Deciding fair use vs. paid permission for each figure
- Preparing high-resolution files after acceptance
- A budget or deadline threatens whether a key image can be reproduced

## The permissions workflow

1. **List the figures the argument requires.** Distinguish *essential* (the argument fails without
   them) from *supporting*; keep within the ~20-illustration limit and let the argument drive the list.
2. **Identify the rights holder for the actual reproduction.** A public-domain *work* can still have a
   copyrighted *photograph*: clear rights with the **copyright holder** (artist/estate, museum, or
   rights agency such as Art Resource, Bridgeman, Scala, ARS) — not with the book the scan came from.
3. **Decide fair use vs. permission per figure.** It is the author's responsibility to determine fair
   use; the **CAA Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts** is the field reference.
   When in doubt, seek permission.
4. **Secure the right license scope.** Get **world rights, print + electronic, all editions** where
   possible; mismatched scope (e.g., print-only) causes problems at production and for the online and
   open-access versions.
5. **Source publication-quality files.** Prefer open-access museum downloads and IIIF where the
   rights allow; otherwise commission or license a press-quality file (commonly **300 dpi at print
   size**, TIFF for photographs, vector for plans/diagrams — confirm specs at acceptance).
6. **Write captions and credit lines correctly.** Artist, *italicized title*, date, medium,
   dimensions (inches then centimeters), collection and location, and the **required credit/copyright
   line** in parentheses — using the exact wording the rights holder mandates.
7. **Keep a permissions log.** Per figure: rights holder, contact, fee, license scope, date granted,
   credit-line wording, and file source. This is your evidence at production.

## Budget & timeline reality

- Fees range from free (open access / public domain) to hundreds of dollars per image; living artists'
  estates can be restrictive and slow. **Budget money and months.**
- If a key image cannot be cleared or afforded, the argument may need to lean on a different,
  clearable work — decide this **early**, not at proof stage.

## Anti-patterns

- Leaving permissions until acceptance — the classic, paper-delaying mistake
- Clearing rights from the source book rather than the actual copyright holder
- Assuming a public-domain object means the photograph is rights-free
- Licensing the wrong scope (print-only) and breaking the online / open-access edition
- Low-resolution or manipulated files that misrepresent the object
- Captions missing the mandated credit line wording

## Worked vignette: a figure program that nearly sank a paper

Suppose a study turns on a modern painting whose estate is represented by a rights society — the *one*
indispensable image is the most restricted and expensive, the estate slow, electronic rights billed
apart. The author starts clearance at once, requests **world rights, print + electronic, all editions** up
front, and confirms detail crops fall under the same license — first, because the argument cannot
survive substituting it.

## Clearance decision aid (per figure)

| Question | Yes path | No / unsure path |
|---|---|---|
| Is the *work* public-domain? | Free — but the photograph may be separately copyrighted | Living artist/estate: expect a permission and a fee |
| Photo's rights holder identifiable? | Clear with them (museum, ARS, Bridgeman) | Never clear from the source book |

## Pipeline pressure point (hedge where uncertain)

- *"The argument's key image is unclearable."* Decide early whether the reading can lean on a clearable
  work, never at proof stage; this pipeline is the long pole of art-historical production (confirm
  illustration caps against the journal's current submission guidelines).

## Output format

```
【Figure list】essential vs supporting (count ≤ 20)
【Per figure】rights holder · fair use or permission · license scope · fee · file source
【Captions/credit lines】full + mandated wording? [Y/N]
【High-res plan】formats/resolution staged for acceptance? [Y/N]
【Permissions log】started and complete? [Y/N]
【Risk】any decisive image unclearable/unaffordable? fallback?
【Next】artbull-structure-and-exposition
```

## Supplementary resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — image sources, rights agencies, fair-use code, resolution/format guidance
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — author-responsibility-for-permissions and illustration-file policy