Citations and reference images
This dictionary shows design styles and techniques through real works, and never presents self-made or AI-generated images as reference works. Reference images fall into three legal categories; clearly labeled AI interpretation images are a separate, fourth kind.
1. Public domain and CC0
- Practice
- Works whose copyright has expired, or whose rights were waived. Even where the rights statement or licence requires no attribution, other rights and local laws may still matter; we credit the source and work as scholarly practice.
2. Creative Commons (CC BY / CC BY-SA and similar)
- Practice
- Used under their license terms. The credit links to the licence and page of record and includes the file creator supplied by the source where attribution is required.
- Source check
- Displayed Commons files are checked against the official API. A file is hidden while its licence is under review, its copyright information is disputed, a territorial warning applies, or required creator metadata is absent.
- Two layers
- A free license for the photograph does not automatically license a separately protected work depicted in it. That work must independently satisfy the quotation conditions; uncertain images are hidden while reviewed.
3. Quotation (Article 32, Japanese Copyright Act)
- Purpose
- This site is operated from Japan. For criticism, study and education of design styles, we quote works under Article 32 of the Japanese Copyright Act. The written entry is the principal subject; the image is subordinate material identifying what is discussed.
- Method
- Quoted images are kept at low resolution (640px or less on the long edge), with visual content unaltered apart from resolution reduction or file-format normalization, credited with “quoted from …” and linked to the page of record. The 640px cap is an internal restraint, not a statutory safe harbor; image size alone does not make a quotation lawful.
- Scope
- Used only when the specific work is necessary to identify or discuss the style and the relevant rights layer is not already covered by a free licence. This is not a general-purpose image library.
AI interpretation images
- Practice
- Where no lawful, legible or sufficiently representative reference image can be displayed, an entry may show one or more AI-generated interpretations for browsing convenience. Existing real-work references remain source evidence. Interpretations are always labeled as AI-generated rather than as reference works, never mixed with reference credits, never used as the entry’s representative image, and excluded from reference listings and sitemaps. They depict generic, independently composed readings of the style and imitate no specific artist, brand or work.
Open text and data
- License
- Original text and structured data created by IndexStyle are licensed under CC BY 4.0. You may reuse and adapt them, including commercially, with attribution.
- Attribution
- Credit IndexStyle and keep the source entry URL. Indicate when you have made changes.
- Exclusions
- Reference images, quoted works, third-party material and trademarks retain their own rights and are not covered by this data license.
Removal and correction requests
- Contact
- Email hello@indexstyle.org with the page URL, material concerned, your relationship to it and the requested action. We aim to acknowledge a complete request within two business days and may hide the material while checking it. Do not send identity documents or other sensitive information unless we later explain why proportionate verification is necessary.
Machine-readable quotation review register · Back to the dictionary