Public.resource.org has taken more than 6,200 low-resolution photographs posted on the Smithsonian site and posted them on flickr.com, as an act of protest over what public.resource head Carl Malamud calls the Smithsonian's unnecessary restrictions on use of the images and dubious claims of its ownership of them.

The protest raises interesting questions over who owns the images in "America's museum" — and whether the public should have unfettered access to them.