The fine print, in plain English
Use it on anything you make.
Every asset in the Ephemera Exchange library comes with one simple commercial license. Members can download as much as they like and use it in their own work, from shop signage to t-shirts to packaging.
Where our artwork comes from
Everything on our shelves started life as ephemera: trade catalogs, shop magazines and fashion books printed for storekeepers and their customers a hundred years ago. These pages were made to be thrown away. Most were.
We only stock pieces that are old enough to be in the public domain in the United States. Then we do the slow part by hand: we crop out old company names, logos and slogans that could still belong to someone, cut the figures out onto transparent backgrounds, and clean and brighten the scans so they print well today. Members can see exactly which publication each pack came from.
So when you use our artwork, you’re getting a piece of real history, restored and ready for your shop, with the paperwork taken care of.
Go ahead and…
- Use assets in unlimited personal and commercial projects
- Print them on products you sell: apparel, stickers, art prints, mugs, packaging and labels
- Use them in branding, menus, signage and storefront displays
- Post them on social media, websites, video, and in print or digital ads
- Edit, recolor, crop, collage and build them into new artwork
- Use them in client work, as long as the client receives a finished design
- Keep selling products you made while you were a member, even after you cancel
Please don’t…
- Resell, share or give away the files themselves, as-is or lightly edited
- Put them in clip-art packs, stock libraries, digital papers, templates, mockups or kits for others to download
- Sell print-on-demand or digital products where the asset alone is the design, with nothing of your own added
- Register them as part of a trademark or logo
- Share your account or downloads with people outside your membership
- Use them in anything unlawful, hateful or defamatory
Good to know
Can I sell t-shirts, stickers or prints with your images on them?
Yes. Physical products are fine in any quantity. We just ask that you make the design your own by adding text, color, layout or other artwork, rather than printing an untouched file and calling it a finished design.
Can I use them in my shop’s branding, menu or signage?
Yes. That’s exactly what the library is for. The one limit is trademark registration: you can use an asset in your branding, but you can’t register it as your own trademark, because other members can use the same artwork.
What happens if I cancel my membership?
Anything you created while you were a member stays licensed, so you can keep selling it. You just can’t download new assets or start new projects with files you downloaded once your membership ends.
Can I use assets for client work?
Yes. Designers can use assets in finished work for clients. Deliver the final design (a logo layout, a printed menu, a label), not the original asset files.
Do I need to credit Ephemera Exchange?
No credit is required. We always appreciate a tag or a mention if you share what you made.
Can I use an asset in a template, digital download or Canva design I sell?
Not as an editable or extractable part of the product. Templates, kits and digital papers let buyers pull the artwork back out, which works like reselling the file. Flattened, finished art inside a larger original design is fine.
Are the brands in vintage artwork included?
We crop out company names and logos where we can, but some artwork may still show old product names or brand marks. Our license covers the artwork, not any trademarks shown in it, so don’t use an asset in a way that suggests you are, or are endorsed by, a company named in it.
Planning something big?
Printing a run in the hundreds of thousands, building a template or kit you want to sell, or doing something this page doesn’t cover? Write to us and we’ll work out an extended license that fits.
This summary is a plain-English guide to how members may use the library. It is not legal advice.