Where can I find openly licensed images? 

Consider these repositories when looking for images: 

Openverse

Openverse contains images and sound files, easily filtered by CC license type. All material is CC-licensed or in the public domain. 

Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia is full of CC-licensed images. Check the Wikimedia Commons for a wealth of CC-licensed and public domain material.

Flickr

Flickr is a very popular image hosting website, particularly for photographers. Flickr has its own Creative Commons, where you can browse and search images by a specific CC license types.

Google Images

Google Images searches the web for image content. To learn more about usage rights of images in Google Images, do a keyword search at Images.google.com. Then select search tools. Navigate to usage rights. In this screen capture (embedded right) you will see that you are able to narrow to see various categories. Make decisions about what images to modify based on the listed usage rights. “Labeled for reuse” typically means the image will have a license that allows for free use.

Pixabay

Pixabay includes images, vector graphics, and illustrations with a range of attribution requirements. An account is required if you intend to download images. Since the images vary in usage rights, it’s important to be aware of the usage rights of each image. 

Guidelines for formatting a correct attribution

To complete an ideal attribution for CC-licensed material, you'll want to include the TASL elements: Title, Author, Source, and License. Consider the following example:

"Gopher" by Brad Smith, shared with CC-BY-NC 2.0 license.

In this attribution we have the title ("Gopher"), author (Brad Smith), and license (CC-BY-NC 2.0) in the text; the source is provided with the hyperlink.

For more in-depth best practices for attribution in various scenarios, consult the CC "Best practices for attribution" wiki page.

Can I use copyrighted images to guide the creation of a new openly licensed image?

Yes, to a certain extent. Many images in traditional textbooks are copyrighted, but they convey concepts that are facts that cannot be copyrighted.

When you are creating a new image or figure that represents an important concept or idea, but you want to make it openly licensed, try to keep these points in mind

1. Try to accurately represent factual, real world objects.  For example, the inner ear, or the central nervous system, or the olfactory system.  
2. Don’t trace other people’s creative work.  This includes photographs.
3. Try to come up with your own way to convey an idea. It is OK sometimes if figures or images look similar if they convey the same important information.  But usually you should be able to represent that idea in a unique way, even if the differences are subtle. 

This can be confusing, but do your best.  We encourage you to attach a Creative Commons license to your new images so others understand they can freely use and modify your work!

It is easy to attach a Creative Commons license to your image. Simply include the license on the image as text or a graphic.  We recommend using either CC BY or CC BY-NC.