The Paris Musées’ recently released more than 100,000 works under Creative Commons Zero (CCØ), putting the works into the public domain. They also released their collections’ Application Programming Interface (API), allowing users to “recover, in high definition, several royalty-free images and their records from cross-searches on the works.”

A portrait of Caroline Rémy (1855-1929), a French feminist journalist. Photo by Paul Cardon.

Users can scroll through the collection via the museum’s portal, discovering hidden gems like this photograph of French feminist Caroline Rémy and this beautiful illustration from an early edition of Les Misérables. This collection is a unique treasure trove for anyone interested in French history, art, and culture.

This announcement by the Paris Musées is a cause for celebration as it marks the continuation of a growing trend among GLAM institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art, that are recognizing the importance of open access to artistic and cultural artifacts. 

We applaud the Paris Musées for this great contribution to the public domain, and we encourage other GLAM institutions to follow suit! 

If you are affiliated with a GLAM institution and would like guidance on using CCØ, or any of our CC licenses, please email us at info@creativecommons.org. We’re here to help!