Images on the open web are subject to copyright law in the same manner as any other creative work; there is no guarantee that an image is legally available for re-use just because it is freely accessible on the web.
That said, there are many cases in which copyright law permits re-use:
1. The image is a public domain work. Generally, anything published in the U.S. 95 or more years ago is in the public domain. For more information, check out the Peter Hirtle's Copyright Term and the Public Domain.
2. The image is available under a Creative Commons license. CC images are labeled as such. When using a CC image, be sure to provide proper attribution to the source.
3. The image is otherwise made available for re-use by the content provider. Some websites permit you to re-use their images on your own website, as long as certain conditions are met (e.g. noncommercial use only). In these cases, you can find out whether re-use is permitted by looking at the website’s Terms & Conditions.
4. The image is copyrighted, but re-use qualifies as Fair Use. In the context of using images on a website, you have a stronger Fair Use argument if you are directly commenting on or critiquing the image, or if you are using the image in a way that is transformative.
- Fair Use likely does not apply when images are being used solely to make a web page more visually interesting; the use of the image should serve some instructional or educational purpose.
- Keep in mind that if an image is subject to a license agreement (such as images from library databases), it can only be used according to what the license allows, even if Fair Use would otherwise allow for re-use. See the Using Database Images section of this page.
- For more information, see "Applying Fair Use" above.
Here are several excellent sources for images in the public domain and creative commons-licensed content:
- Creative Commons Search - Allows you to search for CC-licensed material by media type
- College Art Association Image Sources - Links to free, restricted and unrestricted, image banks.
- Flickr Advanced Search - Choose “Only search within Creative Commons-Licensed Content.”
- Google Advanced Image Search - Use the “Usage Rights” field to limit by license type.
- Library of Congress: American Memory - A free “digital record of American history and creativity.” Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs Online Catalog - Photographs, prints, drawings, posters, and architectural drawings, and more.
- NGA Images - Public domain artworks from the collections of the National Gallery of Art.
- Noun Project - Free clip art images requiring creator credit.
- NYPL Digital Gallery - Illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs, and more, from the New York Public Library.
- US Government Photos & Images - Public domain images by topic.
- Wellcome Images - All images are made available under Creative Commons licenses.
- Wikimedia Commons - Browse or search for freely reusable images.
- Wikipedia Public Domain Images - List of public domain image sources on the web.
