Used with permission from http://creativecommons.org |
If you want to use images made by someone else, you need to get their permission. Otherwise, you are stealing from them and it is against the law. When using an image made by someone else, it is important to get permission from the creator and to tell others where you found the image. Sometimes the image is in the public domain which means it is legal to use the image without anyone's permission. Even with public domain images, you still need to tell people where you found it so they won't think that you made it. |
Sometimes the person who made the image gives everyone permission to use their image. This is possible because of a special agreement called a Creative Commons license. There are several different types of Creative Commons licenses and it is important to do whatever the license states. Whenever you use an image covered by a Creative Commons license, you need to give a proper attribution (image title, creator's name, source, type of license, etc.) For more information about Creative Commons, visit their website at http://creativecommons.org or read the book Shared Creations: Making Use of Creative Commons by Emily Puckett Rodgers and Kristin Fontichiaro found at http://fontichiaro.com/uploads/2014/shared creations.pdf
Global Digital Citizen Foundation's article on How to Search and Attribute Open Source Images the Right Way has a link to the 15 of the Best Open Source Image Sites on the Web as well as short tutorials on how to search Google Images and properly attribute open source images.