Cultural Heritage Online lets researchers, institutions and enthusiasts contribute photographs of the places we document. This page explains who owns what, how to upload responsibly, and how we protect contributors and their work.
Your photos, your rights
Anyone may upload images to Cultural Heritage Online under their own responsibility for copyright. By uploading, you confirm that you are the author of the photograph, or that you hold the rights and permissions required to publish it and to allow its use on the platform.
Cultural Heritage Online acts as a host and a showcase for the material you contribute — not as the owner of your images. You keep the rights to your own photographs. We simply make them visible alongside the heritage places they portray.
You are responsible for not uploading images that infringe the rights of third parties (other photographers, agencies, rights-holders of monuments under temporary restriction, and so on). If a rightful owner asks us to remove an image, we act promptly.
How to add a photo
You can contribute images directly from the place pages — look for the “Add your photo” option on each record — or from your area once you join as a contributor.
A few practical tips for good results:
- Upload at a generous resolution — ideally the longest side at least 1600 px — so the image stays sharp on large screens.
- Use common formats: JPEG or PNG.
- Do not upload images that carry someone else’s watermark or logo.
- Add a correct caption and attribution: what the place is, and who took the photo.
- Prefer your own original shots, or images you are clearly licensed to publish.
Our editorial team may review contributions and, where needed, adjust captions or attribution for consistency and accuracy.
Selling your photos
We are building a feature that will let contributors offer their own photographs for sale through the platform. The goal is simple: give the people who document Italian heritage a way to earn from their work.
To protect your images from screenshots and scraping, previews shown before purchase will carry a discreet signature watermark across the background. The full, clean file is delivered only to the buyer.
The terms and conditions of sale — including how earnings are handled — will be published when the service launches. Nothing is charged or committed in the meantime.
How we protect you and your content
We treat contributors and their material with care. Your attribution travels with your photo. Image previews tied to the upcoming shop are watermarked to deter copying. And we keep our image practices aligned with clear, published rules.
Our broader sourcing and licensing standards — for editorial photography, Wikimedia Commons, institutional press kits and contributor images — are described in our Editorial Guidelines.
Questions or take-down requests
For image-rights questions, attribution corrections, or to request removal of a photograph, please use the Contact page. We respond to legitimate rights-holders quickly.