General Guidance Regarding Copyright
Just because an image or sound is "available" on the Web does not mean that you can freely use that image or sound.
- Does the source where you found the file own all the rights to it and have the right to grant others permission to use the file?
- What is your intended use of the file?
Unless you can identify specific permission for your intended use already posted on the source, you should assume that you'll need to request permission.
Examples from a select list of resources:
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Digital Image Rights Computator (DIRC)"The Digital Image Rights Computator (DIRC) program is intended to assist the user in assessing the intellectual property status of a specific image documenting a work of art, a designed object, or a portion of the built environment. Understanding the presence or absence of rights in the various aspects of a given image will allow the user to make informed decisions regarding the intended educational uses of that image."
Visual Resources Association (VRA) -
Terms & Conditions / Terms of Use (Metropolitan Musem of Art)provides answers to questions such as:
- May I put images or text from www.metmuseum.org on my school or museum website, or on the cover of my book, for example?
- May I use selected images or text excerpts from www.metmuseum.org for a school report?
- How do I obtain permission to reproduce images of works of art not identified as OA, images not available on the Websites, or any text displayed on the Websites? -
Copyright & Rights Management (YouTube)- Copyright on YouTube
- Common copyright myths
- License types on YouTube
- Fair use on YouTube
Who do you contact to obtain rights to reproduce images?
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WATCH - Writers Artists & Their Copyright Holders"a database of copyright contacts for writers, artists, and prominent figures in other creative fields."
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Licensing Requests (Artists Rights Society)"Founded in 1987, ARS is the preeminent champion for visual artists in the United States. We make it clear, simple, and legal for brands, companies and projects to license the works of our 120,000+ members from around the globe."
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Art Resource"Art Resource, the worlds largest photo archive of fine art, offers a range of material from prehistoric times to the present. We carry the works of almost every major museum in Europe, and function as the official rights and permissions representative for many institutions in the United States and abroad."
Search for open access / Creative Commons images
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Flickr Creative Commons This link opens in a new window"Many 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."
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Openverse This link opens in a new window"Openverse is a tool that allows openly licensed and public domain works to be discovered and used by everyone."
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Google Images This link opens in a new windowAfter searching for your keyword
- Select Tools
- Select the Usage rights dropdown
- - Select "Creative Commons licenses" -
Creative Commons Search This link opens in a new windowFind content you can share, use and remix.
"Please note that search.creativecommons.org is not a search engine, but rather offers convenient access to search services provided by other independent organizations."
ccMixter (music) -- Europeana (media) -- Flickr (media) -- Google (web) -- Google Images (image) -- Jamendo (music) -- Nappy (image) -- Open Clip Art Library (image) -- OpenGameArt (media) -- Openverse (media) -- Sketchfab (3d model) -- SoundCloud (music) -- Thingiverse (3d model) -- Vimeo (video) -- Wikimedia Commons (media) -- YouTube (video)
