Each individual Smithsonian museum or unit is responsible for rights and reproduction clearances. In order to obtain rights to reproduce a Smithsonian image, use the Smithsonian’s Collections Search Center to find out at which Smithsonian unit the image is located (look in the "Repository" field to find this information). Consult the Smithsonian’s list of Rights, Restrictions and Security Contacts in order to obtain the contact name and email for each Smithsonian unit.

When you contact a Smithsonian unit with a rights and reproductions request, it is always helpful to include as much information as possible, including: image URL, title, creator, date, and any image or negative numbers.

If you would like to contact the Smithsonian Institution Archives with a request, please consult our Rights and Reproductions page for further information.

Requesting permission for one-time use of an image from the SI Archives is pretty simple and we've posted instructions on our website to help http://siarchives.si.edu/services/rights-and-reproduction . Keep in mind, however, that our archives does not control all of the images in Smithsonian collections. Nevertheless, if something you want isn't part of our collection, we'll do our best to get you in contact with the right person who can help you.

Just wondering if using images on blogs consititute commercial usage? What about Pinterest as well?

thank you!
Tillie