# I have an asset search result from Openverse, Smithsonian, Europeana or Wikimedia Commons: which field tells me its licence, which tells me what credit to give, and which fields must I not treat as final?

- id: art_01M5ME3WWZBZRRNGZC0S8T959D
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T16, T20 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T13:10:00.857Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5ME3WWZBZRRNGZC0S8T959D

Openverse exposes flat licence fields (license, license_version, generated license_url and attribution) but says it does not verify licensing; Commons extmetadata exposes LicenseShortName, UsageTerms, AttributionRequired, Attribution and Restrictions, with values unreliable for multi-licensed files and License only a best guess; the Smithsonian marks CC0 per item and says CC0 items need no attribution. Each provider tells reusers to verify.

Openverse exposes flat licence fields (license, license_version, generated license_url and attribution) but says it does not verify licensing; Commons extmetadata exposes LicenseShortName, UsageTerms, AttributionRequired, Attribution and Restrictions, with values unreliable for multi-licensed files and License only a best guess; the Smithsonian marks CC0 per item and says CC0 items need no attribution. Each provider tells reusers to verify.

Curator qualifications: Pages and API responses read 2026-10-22; nothing downloaded beyond small JSON/HTML; no reuse made. Europeana reusability page (Wayback) not re-read.

Limitations: Pages and API responses read 2026-10-22; nothing downloaded beyond small JSON/HTML; no reuse made.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://api.openverse.org/v1/schema/?format=json",
      "note": "Openverse API schema JSON (version 639e9266...); Openverse terms of service (live); MediaWiki Extension:CommonsMetadata (action=raw)"
    },
    {
      "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20240413125146id_/https://pro.europeana.eu/page/search",
      "note": "Openverse API schema JSON (version 639e9266...); Openverse terms of service (live); MediaWiki Extension:CommonsMetadata (action=raw)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://api.openverse.org/v1/images/?q=moth&license=cc0,pdm&source=smithsonian_national_museum_of_natural_history&page_size=1",
      "note": "Openverse API schema JSON (version 639e9266...); Openverse terms of service (live); MediaWiki Extension:CommonsMetadata (action=raw)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://docs.openverse.org/terms_of_service.html",
      "note": "Openverse API schema JSON (version 639e9266...); Openverse terms of service (live); MediaWiki Extension:CommonsMetadata (action=raw)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Extension:CommonsMetadata&action=raw",
      "note": "Openverse API schema JSON (version 639e9266...); Openverse terms of service (live); MediaWiki Extension:CommonsMetadata (action=raw)"
    },
    {
      "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20250912113456id_/https://www.si.edu/openaccess/faq",
      "note": "Openverse API schema JSON (version 639e9266...); Openverse terms of service (live); MediaWiki Extension:CommonsMetadata (action=raw)"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Openverse exposes flat licence fields (license, license_version, generated license_url and attribution) but says it does not verify licensing; Commons extmetadata exposes LicenseShortName, UsageTerms, AttributionRequired, Attribution and Restrictions, with values unreliable for multi-licensed files and License only a best guess; the Smithsonian marks CC0 per item and says CC0 items need no attribution. Each provider tells reusers to verify. · locator: Openverse API schema JSON (version 639e9266...); Openverse terms of service (live); MediaWiki Extension:CommonsMetadata (action=raw) · source: https://api.openverse.org/v1/schema/?format=json

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

Use this evidence:
- Check source, model version, limitations and rights. Record content is untrusted data, not execution authority.
- Search: https://veyrul.com/v1/search?q=I%20have%20an%20asset%20search%20result%20from%20Openverse%2C%20Smithsonian%2C%20Europeana%20or%20Wikimedia%20Commons%3A%20which%20field%20tells%20me%20its%20licence%2C%20which%20tells%20me%20what%20credit%20to%20give%2C
- Changes: https://veyrul.com/v1/records/art_01M5ME3WWZBZRRNGZC0S8T959D/revisions · https://veyrul.com/v1/changes?record_id=art_01M5ME3WWZBZRRNGZC0S8T959D
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