Information for CDS users about image and content rights

In the CDS, images and other content not licensed for syndication will be marked by a flag: isRestrictedToAuthorizedOrgServiceIds. This flag indicates that NPR has the sole right to publish the content. Third-party station sites should adjust their CDS integrations accordingly so these images are not published.

Member stations are not authorized to publish or distribute NPR content unlicensed for syndication. In the instance one is published by your site, your station is solely and directly liable to the provider of the content for unauthorized use.

Definition of restricted content in CDS

Restricted content can be:

  • Full stories (documents)
  • Assets within stories (images, video, static HTML)

When content is restricted it means that viewing while you can see the content in CDS, syndicating that content (i.e., republishing it on your site, indexing it into your own service for others to use or simply linking non-CDS users to that content publicly) is prohibited.

How do I know if something is restricted?

A document in CDS that is restricted from view will have the field isRestrictedToAuthorizedOrgServiceIds both present on it and set to true (the field is a boolean).

isRestrictedToAuthorizedOrgServiceIds for an image asset

In this scenario CDS users are only required to hide/not show a single asset from a document. Here’s an example of a document with an image in it that is restricted:

{
    "id": "foo-f123-456",
    "title": "How restricted images work in CDS",
    "profiles": [
    {
        "href": "/v1/profiles/document"
    },
    {
        "href": "/v1/profiles/publishable"
    },
    {
        "href": "/v1/profiles/story",
        "rels": [
        "type"
        ]
    },
    {
        "href": "/v1/profiles/has-images",
        "rels": [
        "interface"
        ]
    }
    ],
    "owners": [
    {
        "href": "https://organization.api.npr.org/v4/services/s123"
    }
    ],
    "brandings": [
    {
        "href": "https://organization.api.npr.org/v4/services/s123"
    }
    ],
    "publishDateTime": "2024-05-07T15:15:03Z",
    "images": [
    {
        "href": "#/assets/foo-123-image",
        "rels": [
        "primary"
        ]
    }
    ],
    "teaser": "Don't use restricted images!\n",
    "assets": {
    "foo-123-image": {
        "enclosures": [
        {
            "height": 1080,
            "href": "https://dontuseme.com/image.png",
            "rels": [
            "image-custom",
            "primary"
            ],
            "type": "image/png",
            "width": 1080
        }
        ],
        "isRestrictedToAuthorizedOrgServiceIds": true,
        "id": "1241377794",
        "altText": "A restricted image example",
        "profiles": [
        {
            "href": "/v1/profiles/image",
            "rels": [
            "type"
            ]
        },
        {
            "href": "/v1/profiles/document"
        }
        ]
    }
    }
}

Things to note about the above:

  • Notice that the story itself has no top-level isRestrictedToAuthorizedOrgServiceIds field - only the asset. Therefore, in this case you are allowed to show everything in the story document except the image.

What to do with restricted images and other content

When a document or asset is labeled with isRestrictedToAuthorizedOrgServiceIds: true then do not display the content on your site or offer it to users in your service. If the field is missing or set to false then you are allowed to syndicate or republish the content presented. For more information consult the NPR API Terms of Use.

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