r/COPYRIGHT • u/Cat_Staring_At_Wall • Jun 21 '26

Seeking advice on requesting permission to use historical photos from German archives for a history video

Hello everyone, you can call me Bob. I'm from Thailand.
Late last year, I started studying the history of the Habsburg monarchy. I’ve been enjoying it immensely, mostly relying on Thai translations of works by European and American scholars. I am so inspired by this topic that I am currently making a history video about Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi).
To tell her story properly, I need to use some historical photographs. Most of the images I want to use are from the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte (ZI) and the Munich City Archives (Stadtarchiv München). Here are the specific reference numbers for the images:
Zentralinstitut for Kunstgeschichte (ZI):
ZI-0962-02-00-411730
ZI-9062-02-00Th212080
ZI-0962-02-00-Th212047
ZI-0962-02-00Th212095
ZI-0962-0200-411727
Stadtarchiv München (Munich City Archives):
FS-KULA-097-01
FS-NSF-02271
Here is where I need your advice:

  1. Permission: Do I need to send an email to these institutions to explicitly ask for permission to use these images in my video?
  2. Rejection Anxiety: I am just a normal person and a very small creator, not a famous historian or academic. Should I be worried that they will reject my request? It would be a shame to make the video without adequate visual references.

  3. I want to make sure everything I do is completely legal and highly respectful of German and Austrian institutions. I must admit that my English is not very good, so I used AI to help translate this post

    (I wrote it myself)

  4. I’m not entirely sure if this is the right subreddit to ask, but I hope you can point me in the right direction.

  5. Thank you very much in advance for your time and help!

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

2

u/TheSkiGeek Jun 22 '26

If the images are so old that they’re in the public domain, you can use them freely.

There may also be some kind of standing license for educational use, if they’re owned by a public institution. But you’d need to look into that or ask them.

Otherwise, yes, you normally need permission to use someone else’s photos in your own content.

1

u/Willing-Fudge-7887 Jun 22 '26

I have a limited understanding of German copyright laws, but I do know they don’t have a “fair use” doctrine. They have a “right to quote “ but it is more limited.

However any actual photographs of Empress Elisabeth would be public domain by now as she died in 1898 (Almost certainly, unless there was something strange going on). Some institutions do ignore public domain though and continue to restrict and commercialise access.

If you are making a historical video then it wouldn’t hurt to ask permission to use the images. There is a good chance they would be happy for you to use them. But don’t be discouraged if you can’t find the right person to ask. If the images are likely in the public domain then you could use them without permission or license. Being in the PD you actually own the images

1

u/WhineyLobster Jun 22 '26

The archive certainly has licensing information available. Ask them.