Usage & The Rules of the Nest
I’m not here to gate keep or claim ownership of history. I’m here to have fun finding old shit and sharing it with all of you.
To keep the Nest running smoothly, here are my simple rules:
1. Go Wild and Have Fun: Use my scans for your books, zines, posters, websites, weird art—literally whatever it is you want to make. But don’t be a dumbass—follow PD status (which I’ll always clearly label—see below) and your local laws with regard to commercial use.
2. Don’t Copy-Paste: Don’t just take my raw scans and start your own rival archive or sell them as standalone photo prints. If you don’t understand by now that the point of Rat’s Nest is far more art-aligned than Shopify-friendly, well, you have ten minutes before my fellow rats boo you out onto the street. But seriously. I’m one person and I’m spending my free time and my own money to bring this stuff to you. Use the assets to make something new—don’t sell them as-is.
3. Credit is Cool: You never have to credit the Nest, but mentioning the archive helps me find more cool stuff to scan and keeps the lights on in the basement. (I don’t have a basement, I don’t know why I said that. But it keeps my other lights on in general, and my heat, and feeds my addiction to buying MORE old stuff to scan and archive…)
4. No Digital Gatekeeping A lot of archives scan old public domain stuff and then try to claim "new" copyright over the digital file. I think that sucks. I don’t own history, and I’m not going to pretend I do. My labor is in the rescue and the research, but the soul of the image belongs to the world. Once a file is in your hands, I’m never going to come after you for a "licensing fee."
That said, please remind yourself once more of #2. THANK YOU.
The Legal Reality: I include a .txt file with every pack explaining my research rationale. While I do the legwork to verify status, I’m an archivist, not a lawyer, (despite how badly my dad wanted me to be one for some reason). You are ultimately responsible for ensuring your specific use complies with local laws. All assets are provided ‘as-is.’
RAT’S BOTTOM LINE: I don’t own the past, I just rescued the stuff and made the digital facsimiles. Please use them to make the internet (and ideally the future and/or yourself) more interesting.
If you have any questions about usage, rights, or rules, please contact me! I cannot offer legal advice, but I can certainly clarify my own rules for the Nest.
Decoding the Metadata (Or, how to understand Rat’s Nest’s categories for usage rights):
Every download includes a METADATA.txt manifest. This document provides a line-by-line breakdown for every asset in the pack, ensuring you have the "paper trail" you need for your projects.
Here’s how to read the most important bits, but feel free to contact me if you have any questions:
1. The Rights (PD Status)
🟢 Public Domain / CC0: Green Light. No restrictions. Safe for commercial products, logos, and global use.
🟡 No Known Restrictions / Presumed: Yellow Light. High confidence for artists and designers. Recommended for transformative art, collages, and editorial work.
🔴 Copyrighted / Researching: Red Light. Restricted. For personal inspiration, mood boards, or private study only.
2. The Source (Work Type)
Orphan Work: Mystery finds where the original creator is unknown.
Published Ephemera: Old mass-produced ads, brochures, and pamphlets.
Personal Archive: Items from my direct family estate.
Government Work: Federal rescues.
Licensed: Specific agreements secured with the rightsholder.
3. The Evidence (Verification)
I don’t just guess. The rationale section in the txt file explains my logic, and verification (when marked present) confirms I have a photo of the physical evidence (like a 1920s postmark or a missing copyright notice) on file to back it up.
4. The Asset ID
Every file has a unique fingerprint (e.g., RN-FH-0021-00004).
FH-0021 (or RAT-0021): This is the Object ID. It refers to the original physical item (the specific postcard or photo). It will always have either the FH or RAT prefix.
00004: This is the Asset ID. It identifies the specific digital file (the full scan, a detail crop, or a texture) created from that object.
5. Linked Assets
If you see multiple assets sharing the same Object ID, they belong to the same physical item. This is how I link the front of a postcard to its back, or show multiple detail crops of a single large document.