Images
©-Friendly images and media for education
Would you like to use a still or animated image or video clip in your PowerPoint presentation, or video? Public domain and open access websites contain a multitude of mixed media items that are royalty free, or have a creative commons licence. Many websites contain links to still images, clip art, video, animation and sound, and you do not need the copyright holder’s approval to use the material contained in these sites, however …
Before you download any material from any internet site always check that you understand the Terms of Use of material on that site. Copyright information may also be found under other various headings such as: About Us, Conditions of Use, Permission, Copyright, FAQs or Legal obligations.
Include a citation with the selected image in shared resources.
Creative Commons and Public Domain images
- ABC Open Archives
These materials are provided by the Australian Broadcasting Commission under a CC licence for personal, non-commercial use only. - The British Library Photo StreamThe British Library’s collections on Flickr Commons offer access to millions of public domain images.
- Creative Commons - Openverse
Explore the more than 700 million free Openverse items that include free stock photos, images, and audio. - Getty Museum CollectionAccess more than 88,000 works under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) and are in the Public Domain (PD). Reproductions of material from this site must remain in the Public Domain, i.e., no new copyright should arise over the digitised 'twin' of an image.
- Google Images
How to find Creative Commons images on Google: 1. Enter your topic search. 2. Use Tools > Usage Rights > Creative Commons. - The Met Collection
The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides Open Access images of artworks, believed to be in the public domain, available under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) licence. - NASANASA has a large collection of current and historical astronomy related images to browse through. The images are generally not copyrighted and are available for educational and informational use. The images are all high resolution and file sizes can be quite large so images may need to be resized for use.
- New York Public Library
This public domain collection includes the New York City collection, historic maps, botanical illustrations, unique manuscripts, photographs, ancient religious texts, and more. - OpenClipArt
OpenClipArt images are in the public domain. - Open Photo
A moderated photo community with thousands of Creative Commons licensed photos in various categories. - Paris Musees
Paris Musées offers Open Content (free and unrestricted availability) to more than 150,000 digital reproductions of works from the collections of the museums of the City of Paris in high definition. - Pexels
All photos and videos on Pexels are free to use.
Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the photographer or Pexels is not necessary but always appreciated. - The Public Domain Review
The majority of images are in the public domain or under an open license globally. However, some works may not be so in all jurisdictions. - Public Domain Image ArchiveA hand-picked collection of 10,046 out-of-copyright works, free for all to browse, download, and reuse.
- Smithsonian Open Access
Share and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images—right now, without asking. With new platforms and tools, you have easier access to nearly 3 million 2D and 3D digital items from our collections—with many more to come. This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, nine research centres, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo. - Unsplash
Unsplash photos are licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) which means you can copy, modify, distribute and use the photos for free, including commercial purposes, without asking permission from or providing attribution to the photographer or Unsplash. Be aware that photos from other sources may be visible on the page which are licensed differently.
More 'free' images and media
- FreeimagesThese images are free as long as you adhere to the rules in the Image License Agreement: https://www.freeimages.com/license
- GeneratorGenerator is a creative studio space for teachers and students. Comment, tag, and share creative work and education resources. Variety of licences used.
- The Getty TrustThe Getty Trust has made more than 10,000 images from the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute available through their Open Content Program. The Open Content search filter has already been applied to the link above, but you can apply other filters to your search in the menu bar to the left.
- morgueFileImages on this site are made available for remixing only.
- Pics4LearningCopyright-friendly images for education.
- SunipixSunipix provide royalty free photographs (100 dpi) free of charge for personal and business needs.
- UnprofoundA great collection of designer photos for personal or professional use only.
- VAD The online resource for visual artsAccess to collections of images which may be used for research or teaching purposes but if used for teaching must be restricted so that access is only available to users who have signed an appropriate undertaking. See the VAD Common Access Agreement for Individuals - https://www.vads.ac.uk/common_access_agreement.html
Citing Images
Creative Commons licenses require attribution to the creator and a link to the Creative Commons licence. The Creative Commons site provides advice on attributing sources. Here are some examples of different styles for the same image.
Creative Commons Images
| Style | Example |
|---|---|
| APA Referencing Style (suggestion) | Colli, M.G. (2009). Bilbao_6 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, photograph, retrieved from <http://www.flickr.com/photos/52355315@N08/5757476385/>. Creative Commons Licence CC BY 2.0. |
| Creative Commons Referencing Style | Bilbao_6 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, by Colli, Flickr, is licensed under CC BY 2.0 |
| Harvard Referencing Style for Creative Commons | Colli, MG 2009, Bilbao_6 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, photograph, accessed January 2012, <http://www.flickr.com/photos/52355315@N08/5757476385/>. CC BY 2.0 |
You may like to try the online 'Creative Commons Attribution Builder' available on the Deakin University website.
Public Domain Images
Goddess Hathor giving an Ankh to Nefertari, by unknown, Wikipedia, Public Domain.
What should be included?
Elements for an APA reference for an image within a publication are:
Person/s responsible for the image, date the image was created, Title in Italics, format, retrieved from <URL if electronic>. CC licence link (if applicable).
| Image Type | In text | In reference List |
|---|---|---|
| Image from the Internet with an author | (Colli 2009) | Colli, MG 2009, Bilbao_6 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, photograph, retrieved from <http://www.flickr.com/photos/52355315@N08/5757476385/>. Creative Commons Licence CC BY 2.0. |
| Image from the Internet with no author or date | (Nefertari with Isis n.d.) | Nefertari with Isis, n.d. photograph, retrieved from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ankh_isis_nefertari.jpg>. |
Use angled brackets around <URL> with full-stop after the bracket.
Copyleft: You can use, modify and distribute freely if any derivative works are released under the same conditions.
Creative Commons Licence: The copyright holder keeps the copyright but allows people to copy and distribute copyrighted work provided they meet the stipulations in the license.
morgueFile Free Licence: You can not sell, license, sublicense, rent, transfer or distribute images exactly as they are without alteration.
GNU Free Documentation Licence (GFDL): A copyleft licence that stipulates that any copy of the material, even if modified, carry the same licence.
Public Domain: Works in the public domain are those whose intellectual property rights have been forfeited or have expired.
Royalty Free: The right to use copyrighted material or intellectual property without the need to pay royalties or licences fees.