How far to trust what you see

The short version

1. Records from open data. Imported automatically. Nobody has stood in front of these works yet.
2. A remote rights check. Decides whether we're allowed to show a photograph at all.
3. Photographs approved. The right picture of the right work, openly licensed and credited.
4. Checked on the ground. A contributor has visited the work and confirmed it.

1. Records from open data

Records begin as open data: OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Historic Environment Scotland's listings and Wikimedia Commons. We import them automatically, merge the ones that describe the same work twice, and publish each as a record — its name, type, location and whatever else the sources know.

That data was made by volunteers and institutions for many purposes, not only public art, so some of it will be wrong: a work pinned in the wrong place, a photograph of the building next door, or a building that has “memorial” in its name but isn't an artwork. A city marked records only is at this stage.

2. A remote rights check

Before we show a photograph of an artwork, we have to be allowed to. UK law lets anyone photograph and share a sculpture or other three-dimensional work that stands permanently in a public place. It doesn't cover murals, paintings or other flat artworks — those need the artist's permission.

The first rights check is done remotely, for a whole city at once, from each record's type. Statues, sculptures, memorials, monuments and fountains are treated as three-dimensional. Murals and mosaics are treated as flat works and held back. Plaques, windows, and anything the rule can't identify are left for a person to decide, and show no photograph until they do.

A remote check can't see everything — whether a courtyard is really open to the public, or whether a memorial came down last year — so every work decided this way says so on its page. Our rights page has the full detail.

3. Photographs approved

Even where the rights allow it, a photograph only appears once it has been approved: the right work, in focus, openly licensed and credited to its photographer. Some photographs were matched to their works automatically when the map was first built, so a wrong one can still slip through. If you spot one, tell us.

4. Checked on the ground

The strongest check is a person standing in front of the work. Contributors visit works, confirm they're still there, photograph them, and answer three plain questions — is it a solid object, is it there permanently, can anyone reach it. A definite answer replaces the remote check, and the work's page says it has been checked on the ground. “Not sure” is a fine answer too: the visit is recorded and nothing else changes.

We record how every check was made — on a verification walk, from a work's page, when adding a new work, or remotely — so a remote decision is never mistaken for a visit. We don't ask for anyone's location: contributors give their time for free, and the check should stay as simple as looking and answering.

This is the newest stage. Contributors have only just started checking Edinburgh on foot, so most works haven't had it yet.

What the city labels mean

Live

Records merged and tidied, rights checked remotely, photographs approved, and contributors starting to check works on the ground. Edinburgh is live.

Records only

Records built from open data. Photographs stay hidden until each work's rights are checked and its photographs approved.

Spotted something wrong?

A wrong location, a wrong photograph, or something that isn't public art at all — email hello@publicartmap.co.uk with the link to the work's page, and we'll put it right. Contributors can use the Suggest an edit link on any work instead; every suggestion is reviewed and credited.

If you're an artist or rights holder, the rights page explains how to reach us at rights@publicartmap.co.uk. And becoming a contributor is how more works get checked on the ground.