Founded in 2002, Creative Commons (CC) is a nonprofit organization committed to open licensing. They provide creators, worldwide, with “a free, simple, and standardized way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works; ensure proper attribution; and allow others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works” (Creative Commons, n.d.2).
You can distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon a work, even commercially, as long as attribution is given to the original creator of the work.
You can distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon a work, even commercially.
Attribution must be given to the original creator and modified works must also be licensed CC BY-SA.
You can reuse a work for any purpose, even commercially, but no modifications or adaptations are allowed.
Attribution must be given to the original creator of the work.
You can remix, adapt, and build upon a work, but the use must be non-commercial.
Attribution must be given to the original creator of the work.
You can remix, adapt, and build upon a work, but the use must be non-commercial.
Attribution must be given to the original creator and modified works must also be licensed CC BY-NC-SA.
You can download and share a work, but it cannot be modified or adapted or used commercially.
Attribution must be given to the original creator of the work.
To limit your Bing Images search to Creative Commons or Public Domain, click on Filter (1). Then click on License (2) and select the type of license from the dropdown menu (3). Bing’s filter allows you to be more specific than Google.
Google Images allows you to limit your search to CC-licensed images.
Google Images allows you to limit your search to CC-licensed images.
Once you have entered your search terms, in this example "human heart", click on Tools (1) to open a menu. Click on Usage Rights (2) and select Creative Commons licenses (3).
It is important to note that not all images retrieved this way are actually CC-licensed. Always check the source of the image to make sure you can use it without payment or permission.
Attribution is a requirement of all CC licenses. Creative Commons (n.d.3) states that an ideal attribution includes the:
See the Creative Commons Best Practices for Attribution wiki for more details.
When you insert a CC-licensed image in a Microsoft Office project, a generic attribution will be included. To obtain the correct title, author and license details, you will need to click the text This Photo (1) to view the original image. Replace the generic text with the actual title (linked to the source) and the author’s name (2) (linked to their profile, if available). Check to make sure that the CC license (3) is correct.
The correct attribution (4) for the example below is: Patient talking with doctor by NIH Clinical Center is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
1. Creative Commons. (n.d.1). Creative Commons Certificate for Educators, Academic Librarians and GLAM. https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/
2. Creative Commons. (n.d.2). What we do. https://creativecommons.org/about/
3. Creative Commons. (n.d.3). Use & remix. https://creativecommons.org/about/