Advocacy & Policy

NAEA Position Statement on the Ethical Use of Copyrighted Imagery and Primary Sources

[Adopted April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2017; Reviewed and Revised March 2022]

It is the position of the NAEA that educators and learners should act ethically by following the laws of copyright and Creative Commons (providing a credit to your source) when using existing imagery to research and/or create original art. Educators and learners should see, know, and experience art and art history through original source material and/or high-quality reproductions in order to examine, understand, and create original research or art.

Educators and learners should appropriately credit original sources in all types of work. When developing art, even when using a variety of sources, educators and learners should understand the appropriate use of copyrighted and public domain imagery, including digital imagery. Educators and learners should be encouraged to go beyond published art to develop concepts and ideas from direct observation, experiences, and imagination. Educators and learners should be encouraged to develop original concepts and ideas from practices of observation, experience, reflection and imagination that advance beyond mimicry and/or copying.

Resources:

Links to web site material on copyright and plagiarism:

Links to Scholastics web site material on copyright and plagiarism: