Definitions
Copyright: Legal right of creators to control how others use their works. Images may be subject to multiple copyright claims, including claims by artists, photographers, designers, institutions, corporations, or others.
Copyright Term: The period of time a work is covered by copyright. The copyright term is limited by copyright law.
More information: Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
Intellectual property: Creative products and results of intellectual work, including designs, images, symbols, art, and architecture.
More information: World Intellectual Property Organization
We are grateful to the Instructional Services librarians at Phillips Academy for help in creating this guide. Their library's Finding Copyright-Free Images Guide served as a template for this page. Many of our links and some of the text on this page are drawn from that guide.
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Looking for an image for a presentation or paper? A bit concerned that you don't really know if it's copyright-protected or maybe in the public domain. Not sure how to cite an image? What about statistical charts? If you found it on Google Images, is it copyrighted? Begin by learning more from the video on the left. Stedman, K. (2016). Copyright or Wrong? A Brief Guide to Finding and Using Online Images.
In-depth content about images & copyright can be found here. |
There are many ways to find images that you can use without worrying about copyright restrictions. The important ones are:
Find and use images with a Creative Commons license.
Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. Their copyright licenses provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use creative work — on conditions of the creator's choice. CC licenses let creators easily change copyright terms from the default of "all rights reserved" to "some rights reserved." Creative Commons licenses are not an alternative to copyright. They work alongside copyright and enable creators to modify copyright terms to best suit their need
Use images under the Fair Use provision.
A provision in copyright law that allows for the use of copyrighted works under some specific circumstances and particular purposes such as criticism, comment, scholarship, or research. Fair use is determined by the following four factors (from Chapter 1, Section 107 of the Copyright Law):
Use Images that are in the Public Domain.
When a work is not covered by copyright (because the copyright term has expired, the creator has released the work, or the work was never copyrighted), it is in the public domain. The public then holds the right to the work.
Use Images from Subscription Databases.
As a member of the Trevecca Community, you are entitled to use materials that are licensed by Waggoner Library, such as our databases. Many of these products contain images. If you need images for an assignment that will exist in a physical form or will exist in a virtual form inside Blackboard, you can freely use the copyrighted images in these databases. The subscription costs cover the licensing fees. However, if your project will exist on the free web, you may not use these images.
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