This looks like a really promising development. Reading further, in the open content FAQ, <http://www.getty.edu/about/opencontentfaq.html>, he links to are the following (cherry-picked) statements:

Are there copyright restrictions for the Getty's open content images?
No. The first release includes 4,600 images of works of art believed to be in the public domain—in other words, works not protected by copyright under U.S. law. The Getty does not claim copyright in digital images of public domain artworks.

May I crop, overprint, or otherwise alter images I've downloaded as part of the Getty's Open Content Program?
Yes. There are no restrictions on the use of open content images.

Are images made available through the Getty's Open Content Program approved for commercial use? I'd like to use one for my company's website/product/brochure.
Yes. However, please do not suggest or imply that the Getty endorses, approves of, or participated in your company, product, service, or project. 

This is definitely a promising development! It sounds like they really get it.

Dominic

On 12 August 2013 15:37, Lori Phillips <lori.byrd.phillips@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello all,

I was very excited to see this blog post come out of the Getty today, from CEO James Cuno, who is both a polarizing and respected force in the museum world. In the U.S. we've been trying to encourage the Getty to release their Vocabularies into the public domain for years. In my last effort, I had the Dallas Museum of Art's Rob Stein tell me he would be sure to "strongly encourage" this as soon as he could, because there was really no reason why it shouldn't be. So that is a great win for us, in addition to the fact that the Getty is a new proponent and advocate for open culture in general. 

http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/open-content-an-idea-whose-time-has-come/

I'm also personally quite proud that the recent Horizon Report: Museum Edition was cited as his rationale, thanks to the fact that Open Content was included as a near-term horizon in the 2012 report. We worked hard to get that included this year, since Open Content has been on the bubble in past Horizon Reports. It's also exciting to see the Walters listed first among Cuno's listing of forward thinking institutions in the US who have paved the way for open culture.

This blog should prove useful for those still needing convincing - enjoy!

Lori

--
Lori Byrd Phillips
Digital Marketing Content Coordinator
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

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