Effective date: 2026-11-07
Our card images are original artwork
Every card image on ORAE Tarot is an original illustration created specifically for ORAE Tarot. These stylized, symbolic illustrations reinterpret all 78 tarot cards. They follow the card structure and core symbolism of the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) system, but they are not scans, photographs or tracings of any commercial deck.
About the Rider-Waite-Smith deck
The Rider-Waite-Smith deck was first published in London in 1909 by William Rider & Son. It was conceived by the occultist A. E. Waite and illustrated by the artist Pamela Colman Smith. It became the most influential tarot deck of the modern era, and the card meanings found in most tarot books and courses today are built on its symbolism.
The original 1909 deck is in the public domain in many jurisdictions. Pamela Colman Smith died in 1951 and A. E. Waite in 1942, so in countries where copyright lasts for the author's lifetime plus 50 or 70 years, their copyright has expired. In the United States, works published in 1909 entered the public domain long ago. Copyright law varies from country to country, however, so whether a particular use is free of copyright restrictions has to be judged under local law.
Later editions may still be protected
Not every "Rider-Waite" image you come across is in the public domain:
- Many publishers have since released recolored, redrawn or otherwise revised editions. The new coloring, line work and design added in those editions can be new works that are still protected by copyright.
- Some deck names, such as "Rider-Waite", are registered trademarks of particular publishers in some countries.
For these reasons, ORAE Tarot does not use images from any later edition and has created its own original artwork instead. When we refer to the "Rider-Waite-Smith system" or the "RWS tradition", we do so only to describe the symbolic tradition our cards follow. It does not mean that we are affiliated with, licensed by or endorsed by any publisher.
How you may use our card images
The copyright in ORAE Tarot's original card artwork belongs to ORAE 塔羅.
You may:
- View and use the card images on this site
- Share your readings through the site's share links
- Share screenshots of your own readings on social media for personal, non-commercial purposes, with credit to "ORAE Tarot"
Without our written permission, you may not:
- Download, scrape or collect the card images in bulk or by automated means
- Use the images commercially, including printing or selling decks, merchandise, books or paid services
- Modify the images and publish them as your own, or remove any credit or attribution
- Use the images to build datasets or to train machine learning models
If you would like to license our artwork, please get in touch.
Written content
Our card meanings, interpretation rules and Academy articles are written by us, drawing on traditional tarot symbolism, and their copyright also belongs to ORAE 塔羅. See our Terms of Service for how they may be used.
Reporting infringement
We respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe any content on this site infringes your rights, please email server@orae.tw with your contact details, a description of the work and your rights in it, the URL of the content in question, and any supporting evidence. We will look into it promptly.