The temporary pedestrian walkway connecting the north and south areas of Main Campus will be closed beginning today, Tuesday, August 19, 2025, to address inconsistencies with ADA compliance. During this time, access across campus will be available through the original walkway that led to Building 10 that is close to the Lawson Street bus stop. This walkway will remain open while modifications are completed.
Have you ever desperately needed the 3-D printed or , but just couldn't find the right file?
Good news, everyone-- (high resolution, 2- and 3-D) from across its 19 museums and institutions into the public domain under , meaning they are available for anyone to "copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission."
Joining other cultural institutions that have already provided high resolution images of their collection under a CC0 license, the Smithsonian is allowing a more equal access to these resources. Individuals are able to engage with them under the 5 Rs: Reuse, Revise, Remix, Redistribute, Retain. Instructors can bring these resources into their instruction without worrying about copyright issues and students can use them for projects, including remixes (still give credit-- it's good form!).Â
Copyright is a limited right to control how other people can use your creative work, whether you wrote a paper, painted a picture, recorded a song, etc. U.S. copyright law governs specifically what other people can do with your creative works.
If you are an instructor or a student, copyright becomes important when you are "other people"; that is, copyright restricts what you're allowed to do with a work you didn't create. Fortunately, "fair use" lets educators have more rights in using copyrighted works than non-educators have. (See the library's for more information about fair use.)
What makes the Smithsonian's image collection special is the CC0 license. A CC0 license replaces copyright. It means that you are free to do whatever you want to with the images.