Find free images
There are some images available online which can be used without asking for permission from the copyright holder. In most cases you will not be allowed to alter images or use them for commercial purposes.
Free image banks
NOTE - Access to the databases does not grant permission to use the images freely. Always follow websites' terms of use & individual licenses applied to images strictly. Do not forget to acknowledge the copyright holder.
Below you will find a list of most popular image banks:
Creative Commons (CC)
Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organisation aiming to help creators retain copyright while allowing others to reuse and share the creators' work. The organisation has released several copyright licenses, known as Creative Commons licenses, free of charge to the public. The copyright holder can apply a CC-license that will define how the work can be used and shared. You as a user will then be able to reuse the work without asking for permission.
There are four terms that create six licenses that the copyright owner can choose from.
Don't forget to credit Creative Commons licensed works and include the following:
The creator
The title (if any)
Link to the work (if online)
State which license the work has and link to the license
Creative Commons have shared a good example on their website (see under "Attributing Sources").
Video: Creative Commons (3:04)
Creative Commons licenses:
License | Terms |
| This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials. |
| This license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects. |
| This license lets others reuse the work for any purpose, including commercially; however, it cannot be shared with others in adapted form, and credit must be provided to you. |
| This license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. |
| This license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. |
| This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially. |
If you would like to apply a CC-license to your own work, you may find more information on the Creative Commons website.
Open Access (OA)
Open Access (OA) is a movement focused primarily on the research literature. By applying an open license to a paper, barriers to copying or reuse can be reduced or removed completely. When compared to traditional library subscription model, research information marked as OA is available to readers freely. On the Open Access page you will find open resources that you can use in your research and teaching.