LibGuides: Copyright Friendly Media: Home

Copyright Friendly Media

When sharing media (images, video, music, etc) online through social media or a website (even ones made for school) it is important to have copyright permission to use the media.

The creators of the images, video, and music you find online own the rights to the work they created, and they have the right to decide who and how their work is shared online.

Fortunately, there are many ways that you can find and use media with permission.

If you want to add an image, a video, or music, you can:

If you can, make it yourself.
- Create an image or video (or song) yourself to use online. You own the copyright permissions.
Use work in the public domain.
- The Public Domain refers to creative works for which no one owns the copyright. These are often (but not always) older works where the copyright has expired. This also includes works where the copyright has been waived or forfeited.
Use works available with a Creative Commons license.
- Some creators make their work available for others to use (with conditions).
- When you use a work in the creative commons you often have to give attribution (give credit) and sometimes to also offer your work in the creative commons under the same license (share a-like).

Use the tools and resources below to find images and more that you have copyright permissions to share and use online.

Tips for Searching

When you explore these links, make sure that you examine the copyright restrictions for these images or files. They are not all free to use.

On some sites, when doing a search, you may need to filter by creative commons terms (see the images in the right hand column).

Some of these collections are on Flickr. Not all images on Flickr are free to use, however, the images in the linked collections are. Make sure you search through the linked collections to find images, rather than all of Flickr.

Resources for Copyright Friendly Media

Tools & Tutorials

The following are tutorials that could help you better understand Copyright Friendly Media.

They also include many other links to search.

Sources for Copyright Friendly Media

When using images from other creators, even if you have copyright permissions, be sure to give them credit for their work. Many of these images require "Attribution" as part of the license.

Photos for Class
Search for and download images that are available to use in educational settings.
Flickr Creative Commons
This collection on Flickr has images that are available for use through the Creative Commons. When searching, use the search function under "Explore / Creative Commons" rather than the one at the top of the page.
Unsplash
High-resolution and high-quality stock photography. Great for backgrounds and general images.
Pexels
Another source with royalty free stock photography.
Pixabay
High quality images, audio, vectors, video, and more.
Public Domain Archive
Images located in the Public Domain, meaning they are free for anyone to use.
Negative Space
High resolution stock photoraphy
Gratisography
High resolution stock photography.
Wikimedia Commons
Images, sounds, and video. From the website: a collection of 92,651,949 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute
Wikipedia:Public domain image resources
A collection on Wikipedia of links to sites that house public domain images.

When using digital images, even if you have copyright permissions, be sure credit the original source. Many of these images require "Attribution" as part of the license.

Library of Congress: Free to Use and Reuse
Collections from the Library of Congress, including LGBTQ, women, teachers, Civil Rights, and advertisement collections.
Flickr Public Domain Collection
From the website: The works in this collection may be used for free. According to the source, they are believed to be in the public domain. Please note, however, that while some photos are unrestricted, others may require attribution. The general rule: identify the photographer, physical location of the photo, and any other pertinent information regarding rights.
Flickr Internet Archive Book Images
Images and illustrations from books. To search, use the magnifying glass under the Internet Archive Book Images header.
Flickr Library of Congress
Images from the Library of Congress collection. Please check the copyright restrictions before using an image.
New York Public Library Public Domain Picks
Images from the NYPL digital collections. They are all in the public domain, meaning they are free to use.
British Library
Collections from the British government archives. Check copyright permissions before use.

When using digital images, even if you have copyright permissions, be sure to credit the original source. Many of these images require "Attribution" as part of the license.

NASA Images and Video Library
Since NASA is a publicly funded organization, when possible, they try to make some of their media free for public use.
NASA Flickr
More Images from NASA
NASA on the Commons Flickr
From the website: Through a competitive process, NASA selected The Internet Archive to organize a comprehensive online compilation of NASA's vast collection of photographs, historic film and video on the NASA Images Web site under a non-exclusive Space Act agreement, signed in July 2007. Launched in 2008, NASA Images is already making hundreds of thousands of images and thousands of hours of video and audio content available to the public, and the collection is growing daily at no cost to taxpayers.
MedPix
From the National Library of Medicine. Medical Images available for personal and educational use.
Bassett Collection of Stereoscopic Images of Human Anatomy
3-D photographs and illustrations based on the photos of human anatomy.
Smart Servier Medical Art
From the website: "Servier Medical Art’s extensive collection of over 3000 free medical images for building medical visual aids as well as writing publications is kept up to date to reflect the latest advances in medical knowledge and technology and is available for free use (under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license)"
Public Health Image Library from the CDC
A collection of illustrations and photographs related to public health from the CDC. "We welcome public health professionals, the media, laboratory scientists, educators, students, and the worldwide public to use this material for reference, teaching, presentation, and public health messages."
CSIRO Science Image
CSIRO is a collection of images related to nature and science, from Australia. "All images in ScienceImage are free to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) license. If you wish to use an image, the following is required: Attribution - You must give credit to CSIRO"
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https://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/

When using vectors and icons, even if you have copyright permissions, be sure credit the original source. Many of these images require "Attribution" as part of the license.

Pixabay
High quality images, audio, vectors, video, and more.
Flat Icon
From the website: Download Free Icons and Stickers for your projects. Images made by and for designers in PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD and CSS formats.
The Noun Project
Royalty free icons and vectors.

When using digital media, even if you have copyright permissions, be sure credit the original source. Many of these require "Attribution" as part of the license.

Pixabay
High quality images, audio, vectors, video, and more.
Wikimedia Commons
Images, sounds, and video. From the website: a collection of 92,651,949 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute
Free Music Archive
Free access to original music.
Dig CC Mixter
Free music available for projects.
Youtube Audio Library
Music available for use on YouTube.