Sources and Methodology

Webaldic policy on heraldic documentation, sources, and reuse

What Webaldic is

Webaldic is a heraldic identification service. We help researchers, archivists, antique dealers, auction houses, genealogists, family historians, and curious enthusiasts identify coats of arms encountered on objects, buildings, documents, and works of art. Our database connects visual heraldic representations to the persons, families, and institutions that bore them.

We are not a digital library. We do not redistribute heritage documents or replace access to source institutions. Where we draw on digitized heritage materials, our role is to extract heraldic information and direct users to the source institutions for full context.

How we source heraldic content

We draw on three categories of sources:

• Publicly available digitized heritage materials
  This includes content from open digital libraries and heritage portals and equivalent institutional collections across Europe. We use only materials whose underlying works are in the public domain.
• Printed and published sources
  Historical armorials, heraldic dictionaries, ecclesiastical and noble genealogies, and heritage publications. We extract only heraldic elements from documentary photographs of historical objects, buildings, and works.
• Contributions from researchers and enthusiasts
  Members of our community share photographs they have taken of heraldic objects, buildings, and documents. Contributors are credited (where they wish to be) and may request removal of their contributions at any time.

What we extract and what we don't

In all cases, our extraction is limited to the heraldic element itself — the coat of arms with its supporters, mantling, motto, and immediate ornamental elements — cropped from the source document or photograph. We do not redistribute:

• Full document sequences from digitized works. Where we display an underlying page from a public-domain source for context, we do so only as a single page, not as a sequence enabling reconstruction of the source document.
• Editorial or scholarly content from source publications
• Source institutions' catalogue descriptions or metadata structures

Each identification in Webaldic includes:

• Full attribution of the source institution or publication when available
• A direct link to the source if available
• Bibliographic reference where applicable

Our architectural commitments

Webaldic is designed to complement, not substitute for, the source institutions whose materials we reference. Several deliberate design choices implement this commitment:

• Single-result access
  Each heraldic search returns the matched identification and its source reference. There is no browsing of source documents through Webaldic.
• No source-faceted browsing
  Users cannot search Webaldic by source institution to retrieve all items we hold from any particular collection.
• No document reconstruction
  Where source materials are sequenced (pages, plates, sections), Webaldic does not enable navigation between them.
• Link-back as default
  Wherever a source institution provides public access to its materials, we direct users to that access rather than hosting equivalent content.

These choices reflect our view that downstream reuse of digitized heritage should support, rather than compete with, the institutions that have invested in digitization.

Legal framework

Webaldic operates within established European frameworks for cultural heritage reuse:

• Public domain heritage
  The historical materials we reference — coats of arms, ex-libris, armorial bookplates, ecclesiastical and noble heraldry from before the twentieth century — are in the public domain by any applicable measure.
• Faithful reproductions of public domain works
  Under Article 14 of EU Directive 2019/790 on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, faithful reproductions of public-domain works of visual art do not generate new copyright or related rights. Belgian copyright law, applicable to Webaldic, has long required originality for photographic protection and does not protect documentary reproductions.
• Cultural heritage access policy
  Recital 53 of the Copyright Directive recognizes that "the circulation of faithful reproductions of works in the public domain contributes to the access to and promotion of culture, and the access to cultural heritage." The EU Open Data Directive (2019/1024) further establishes that public-sector cultural information should be available for reuse under transparent and proportionate conditions.
• Freedom of panorama
  Belgian Code of Economic Law, Article XI.190, 2/1° permits reproduction of works of visual art permanently placed in public spaces. This applies to heraldic content on publicly accessible buildings and monuments.
• Linking
  Direct linking to publicly available institutional resources is established as lawful under EU law (Svensson, C-466/12; GS Media, C-160/15).

We do not claim copyright over the images we display, which remain in the public domain or are licensed for the use we make of them.

Source institution relations

We respect the legitimate interests of source institutions. Specifically:

• We attribute sources clearly in every identification
• We direct user traffic back to source institutions through direct links
• We do not redistribute substantial portions of any source database
• We do not interfere with source institutions' own dissemination of their collections
• We welcome contact from any source institution regarding our use of their materials

If you represent a source institution and have any concern, suggestion, or interest in closer collaboration, we would welcome your contact.

Contributor materials

When contributors share photographs of heraldic content with us, we rely on their representation that the material is theirs to share. Contributors retain their interest in their own photographs and may request:

• Specific attribution (including their name, anonymity, or other preferences)
• Removal of their contributions from Webaldic at any time
• Correction of any information associated with their contributions

We credit contributors as they request, and we maintain records of the provenance of contributed materials.

Removal requests and contact

We welcome contact from any party with a legitimate interest in Webaldic's content. This includes:

• Source institutions concerned about specific items or our use generally
• Rights holders who believe specific content should not appear in Webaldic
• Contributors wishing to modify or withdraw their contributions
• Families with concerns about how their heraldic identity is presented
• Researchers offering corrections or additional information

For all such matters, please contact us at support@webaldic.com.

We commit to:

• Acknowledging your message within five working days
• Reviewing the matter promptly and substantively
• Removing or correcting content where the request is well-founded
• Engaging in constructive dialogue on any contested point

We aim to resolve all concerns through direct communication. We believe that scholarly heritage tools and source institutions share fundamental interests, and that most questions can be addressed cooperatively.

About this policy

This policy describes Webaldic's actual practices. We have published it because we believe transparency about sources, methods, and legal framework is part of operating responsibly in the European cultural heritage ecosystem.

We update this policy as our practices evolve. The current version and date are shown above. Substantive changes are recorded in a version history available on request.

Contact

support@webaldic.com