Would you like to use a still or animated image or video clip in your PowerPoint presentation, or iLearn site? Public domain and open access websites contain a multitude of mixed media items which are royalty free, or have a creative commons licence. There are many websites which 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.
See referencing / citation examples below.
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.
| 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.
Goddess Hathor giving an Ankh to Nefertari, by unknown, Wikipedia, Public Domain.
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.
Copyright © Bond University
