PublicDomain no licence?

[Torsten Schaßan]

Dear colleagues,

our digital facsimiles of manuscripts are in the Public Domain. When I want to state this in the IIIF manifest, I receive an error in the validation tool:

Error 1 of 1. Message: 'https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/' does not match 'http://creativecommons.org/licenses/.*'

Detail:

Path: /rights/['https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/' does not match 'http://creativecommons.org/licenses/.*']

Description:

"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"

How should I go on with this? How do I have to express that fact? Or is it enough to express the fact in a requiredStatement?

Best regards,
Torsten | Schaßan

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Torsten Schassan - Abteilung Handschriften und Sondersammlungen / Digitale Editionen
Herzog August Bibliothek, D-38299 Wolfenbuettel, Tel.: +49 5331 808-130 Fax -165
Handschriftendatenbank: https://diglib.hab.de/?db=mss

[trip.kir...@yale.edu]

It should be just a change from https to http. The reason is escaping my brain right now, but pointers to the Creative Commons computer-readable license URIs are not allowed to be https.

Best,

Trip

---

Trip Kirkpatrick, MA (he/him/his)

Technical Lead for Special Collections Circulation and Logistics, Library IT

Yale University Library

*Yale University acknowledges that indigenous peoples and nations, including Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Niantic, and the Quinnipiac and other Algonquian-speaking peoples, have stewarded through generations the lands and waterways of what is now the state of Connecticut.  We honor and respect the enduring relationship that exists between these peoples and nations and this land.*

[Rob Jacobs]

Hi Torsten,

Perhaps this might help.

This is a common frustration when validating IIIF manifests. The error is occurring because the specific validator (or the profile you are validating against) is using a "Regular Expression" (Regex) that is too strict or outdated. It expects a Creative Commons License (URL containing /licenses/), but you are providing a Public Domain Mark (URL containing /publicdomain/).

Here is how to solve this and the correct "best practice" way to express this for Cultural Heritage.

The Quick Fix: http vs https

First, check the protocol. In the world of Linked Data (which IIIF is built on), URIs are exact strings, not just web links.

• The official Semantic Web URI for Creative Commons is often http, not https.

• Your error shows you used https. The validator might be expecting http.

Try changing your value to:

JSON

"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"

---

The Real Solution: Use the Correct Property & Standard

How you express this depends on which version of the IIIF Presentation API you are using (2.1 or 3.0).

If you are using IIIF Presentation API 2.1

In version 2.1, the property is called license. This is often where the confusion lies, because "Public Domain" is a legal status, not a license. However, in 2.1, you must put it in the license field.

JSON

{ "@context": "http://iiif.io/api/presentation/2/context.json", "@type": "sc:Manifest", "license": "http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/", ... }

If you are using IIIF Presentation API 3.0 (Recommended)

In version 3.0, the property was renamed to rights to fix exactly this semantic problem. It accepts a string (URI).

JSON

{ "@context": "http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json", "type": "Manifest", "rights": "http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/", ... }

---

The "Professional" Cultural Heritage Approach: RightsStatements.org

If the Creative Commons URL continues to fail validation, or if you want to follow the modern standard for Museums and Archives (GLAM), you should switch to RightsStatements.org.

The IIIF community and the DPLA (Digital Public Library of America) created this standard specifically because Creative Commons licenses didn't fit old manuscripts well.

Instead of the CC Public Domain Mark, use "No Copyright - Other Known Legal Restrictions" or "No Copyright - United States" (or your specific country status).

For the Public Domain, use this URI:

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-OKLR/1.0/

(No Copyright - Other Known Legal Restrictions: Use this if the object is PD, but you might have restrictions on how the digital file is used, or simply use the generic No Copyright).

Or the "No Copyright - Contractual Restrictions" if you want to be safe.

Ideally, for Public Domain objects:

JSON

"rights": "http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/"

(No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only - if that applies)

OR

JSON

"rights": "http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/"

(No Known Copyright)

Should you use requiredStatement?

You asked: "Or is it enough to express the fact in a requiredStatement?"

No, it is not enough.

• rights (or license in 2.1): This provides a machine-readable URI. This allows aggregators (like Europeana or huge museum portals) to automatically filter your collection by "Public Domain". If you omit this, your images are assumed to be "Copyrighted/All Rights Reserved" by machines.

• requiredStatement (or attribution in 2.1): This is human-readable text that must be displayed to the user.

The Best Practice is to use BOTH.

Example (IIIF 3.0):

JSON

{ "rights": "http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/", "requiredStatement": { "label": { "en": [ "Attribution" ] }, "value": { "en": [ "This image is in the Public Domain. Provided by [Your Institution Name]." ] } } }

Summary of steps to fix your error:

1. Change https to http in the Creative Commons URI.

2. If that fails, the validator is enforcing a "License only" rule. Switch the URI to RightsStatements.org (http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/).

3. Ensure you use rights for IIIF 3.0 and license for IIIF 2.1.

Best regards,

R...@imagezebra.com

[Andrew Hankinson]

Can we agree to indicate when an e-mail response is simply generated from AI? Thanks.

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[Simeon Warner]

And, FYI, perhaps the most recent IIIF discussion that includes why we kept http URIs is https://github.com/IIIF/trc/issues/32

Cheers,

Simeon

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iiif-discuss/48D9D83B-35E2-4464-95BC-F5EB23E1980A%40gmail.com.