It is so tempting (and easy) to find an image online and use it in some work you are doing. I used to do it all the time. That is, until I married a librarian. Then my wonderful wife introduced me to copyright law and some sweet (and easy) alternatives.
When you need an image or a movie clip or music for a project and you want to avoid copyright, there are a ton of resources you can use. My go-to sites for finding images are:
- Unsplash – A site with thousands of images – taken from professional photographers around the globe – that you can use for any reason. You don’t even have to give credit to the photographer (but it’s great karma if you do).
- Pixabay – Similar to Unsplash, Pixabay has high-quality images. You can also find cool illustrations, movies, and music. You also don’t need to provide attribution to the artist. But, karma.
Between Unsplash and Pixabay I can find almost anything I need for all my work – and I recommend you do, too. The quality is often as good – or better – than a Google search. In fact, much of the art used in previous blog posts have been from these sites. There are tons of other sites, too (like Pexels) that also have wonderful resources. Just make sure you note the licensing when you venture to new sites.
Copyright
Unless otherwise stated, most work is automatically protected by copyright. The law is a bit confusing and changes based on when the content was created. The most current iteration of copyright law says that if the work was created past January 1, 1978, then copyright exists for seventy years after the death of the artist.
Public Domain
When copyright expires it belongs to the public domain. That means you can use it however you want. Steamboat Willie went into the public domain on January 1, 2024! But not all versions of Mickey Mouse are in the public domain (yet). You can check out The Public Domain Review for a big collection of work.
Fair Use
I’m no lawyer, but I can tell you that fair use is a sticky wicket. Educators often claim fair use when using copyrighted work, but I avoid using it as much as I can. The United States Copyright Office has a good description about fair use, but the reality is that judges have tremendous latitude when interpreting fair use in copyright cases, and most advice seems to suggest staying away from relying on fair use whenever possible.
Royalty-Free
Despite the term “free”, royalty-free work is usually not free. Royalty-free work usually means that you initially pay for the work but don’t have to provide royalties each time you use it – you’ve bought a license to use it as much as you want.
Creative Commons
Developed as an alternative to traditional copyright, a Creative Commons license allows creators to copyright their work such that others can use it freely (and in most cases modify it, too). There are a few different flavors of licenses, so I recommend talking to your friendly librarian or checking out the Creative Commons website for a rundown of licenses and also a collection of work licensed under Creative Commons.
AI
As of this publication, work generated with artificial intelligence cannot be protected under copyright in the United States. Using AI to create bespoke images is a great way to make images for projects you are working on (ethical concerns about AI aside). Use sites like DALL-E 2 to create images.
Honestly, the biggest takeaways here are Unsplash and Pixabay. Those two sites will give you 95% of what you need. Even if you don’t have a need for copyright-free images, you should still check out Unsplash to see the gorgeous photography.
If you want to provide students with a brief overview, you can share this video. And if you have more questions about copyright issues, make sure you connect with the amazing talent at the library!
Also, I’m not a lawyer. So take everything I’ve said with a grain of salt. All of this information only applies to copyright laws in the United States.
