The Bridgeman Art Library, based in New York, London, Paris and Berlin, provides one of the largest archives for reproductions of works of art in the world. Founded in 1972 by Harriet Bridgeman, the Bridgeman Art Library cooperates with many art galleries and museums to gather images^[1] and footage for licensing.

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Harriet Bridgeman was hired at 23 by Sir John Rothenstein to launch a UK version of the Italian journal I Maestri del Colore. She discovered that gathering pictures of artworks was complicated and launched Bridgeman Art Library in 1972.^[2]

In 1998, the company was involved in the case Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp., in which the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that exact photographic copies of two-dimensional works in the public domain cannot be copyrighted, even if making the image takes considerable effort, because the resulting works lack originality.^[3] During the Royal Academy's 1998 exhibition Art Treasures of England: the Regional Collections, 98% of the pieces exhibited came from Bridgeman Art Library.^[2]

In 2007, Harriet Bridgeman restructured the company to pave the way for her succession.^[4] In 2012, Bridgeman Art Library started to represent the British Council Collection.^[5] In April 2015, Bridgeman Art Library acquired the French photo archives company Rue des Archives.^[6]

The Bridgeman Art Library is a company that represents museums, art collections and artists throughout the world by providing a central source of fine art and photography for image users (300,000 artworks and 750,000 historical photographs). Each one has been catalogued with full picture data and keyworded to simplify the search process.^[2] A full research service is also provided whereby expert researchers can select images to the customer's requirements. In addition to fine art, designs, antiques, maps, architecture, furniture, art glass, ceramics, anthropological artefacts- and many other media are featured in the collection.

Bridgeman also provides customers with reproduction licensing and offers advice on how to clear artist's copyright, if additional permission is needed.^[2] Copyright holders receive remuneration in the form of half the reproduction fee paid by the customer. As well as supplying images to consumers, Bridgeman works with copyright holders to create high quality reproductions of artists' works using the latest imaging technology. These reproductions can be ordered through various Web sites and apps such as Art Authority. Over 500 new images are added to the Bridgeman archive each week. Museums represented in the archive include the British Museum; the British Library; the National Galleries of Scotland, Sweden and South Africa; the Hamburg Kunsthalle; and the Barnes Foundation.

• List of online image archives