UNIVERSITY COPYRIGHT OFFICE
Finding Creative Commons
Images using Google
Creative Commons images have been licensed so that they can be used for a variety of purposes. Using Creative
Commons material is a greater alternative when it is not possible or practical to get permission from the copyright
owner. Some conditions to apply but Creative Commons images can be used on University blogs, wikis and websites,
a part of public events and lectures, in University publications and Cousera subjects.
How to Search
1. Enter your search term into the Google Images search bar
Figure 1 – Google Images Search
2. Click on Search tools.
Figure 2 – Click on “Search tools”
3. Click on the drop down menu under Usage Rights.
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Figure 3 – Click on “Usage rights” to refine your image search
4. Select the type of licence you wish to search for.
Figure 4– Select a type of licence to refine your search
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Not filtered by license – will not filter your results.
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Labeled for reuse with modification – - will locate images that can be modified and altered and
used commercially – including use in Coursera subjects.
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Labeled for reuse - will locate images that can be reproduced, communicated, redistributed or
published for commercial purposes – including use in Coursera subjects.
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Labeled for noncommercial reuse with modification - will locate images that can be modified and
altered. Some images may only be available for non-commercial use.
Labeled for noncommercial reuse - will locate images that can be reproduced, communicated,
redistributed or published. Some material may only be available for non-commercial.
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5. Click on an image to see more detail and then click on Visit page. Visit page shows the image on it’s original
website. By viewing the image’s orginal website, you can make sure that the image is legitimate and that it
has been licenced correctly. It is important that you check the terms of the licence to make sure that the
licence is legitimate as sometimes people will take an image from another website and make it available on
their own site under Creative Commons.
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Figure 5 – Click Visit Page to view the image on its original website
6. On the image’s original site, check for details to confirm that both the image and licence are legitimate.
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Is the site legitimate and reputable or does it look like it might allow users to upload any content
without checking copyright
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Is there information about who created the image and who it belongs? This will also help you to
attribute the image
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Licensing information – is it easy to find and clearly labelled.
Figure 6– Examining the source of the image for licensing information
7. Click on the link to the licence information to see more details about that licence allows you to do and any
conditions that may apply.
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Figure 7 – Click on the link for licence information to view details about the licence
Attributing Images
You must attribute all images that you use. Your attribution should include a the title of the work, name of the creator,
link to the website where the image is hosted and the type of Creative Commons licence applicable to the work. If the
creator has requested that they be attributed in a particular way you should try and follow their request.
If you are using the image in print, your attribution should include the text of the URLs. Below are some examples of
how to attribute an image.
CH cow 2 by Daniel Schwen (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons
CH cow 2 (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CH_cow_2.jpg) by Daniel Schwen (CC
BY-SA 3.0)
CH cow 2 © Copyright Daniel Schwen and licensed for reuse under this Creative
Commons Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
CH cow 2 by Daniel Schwen. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike
3.0 Licence
Schwen, Daniel, CH cow 2, Licensed under Creative Commons. Downloaded from
Wikimedia Commons on 5th January 2010
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