USP 460 - Community Development Field Seminar: Finding Reusable Images
Find Creative Commons Images in Google Images
The Google Image search engine offers filters for you to find reusable images with Creative Commons licenses. In order to make use of this filter follow these steps.
1. Search the images search engine using keywords.
2. On the results page click on tools.
3. Under "usage rights" select "all creative commons images."
4. Click on the image of interest.
5. Visit the image's source page and verify its license before saving and reusing it.
Public Domain & Creative Commons Licensed Images
- Internet ArchiveFind books, media, music, software and more.
- Flickr: Creative CommonsMany Flickr users have chosen to offer their work under a Creative Commons license, and you can browse or search through content under each type of license.
- Ad*AccessImages and information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II.
- Getty Open ContentAll images of public domain artworks in the Getty’s collections. Roughly 4,600 high-resolution images of the Museum’s collection free to use, modify, and publish for any purpose.
Licenses you may use without seeking permission
You may use materials licensed with the following licenses without seeking permissions from the copyright holder.
- Public Domain - public domain licenses are those that are "public." In the United States usually means that the work was created by a government entity, or that the material is old enough that its copyrights have expired.
- Creative Commons licenses - creative these licenses come in a variety of flavors. Some are very permissive, others are not. Be sure you follow what a rights holder has indicated on the license. For example, the image in the Google Image Search example on this page is a creative commons non-commercial no derivatives licensed image. This means that I may not reuse the image for commercial purposes, nor may I make use part of the image to make a new work, or a derivative work. (i.e. no Photoshopping!)
Regardless of the license of the image you are using, you should always cite where you found the image, and name the rights holder. For more on these licenses, see the Copyright & Fair Use page of this guide.