Reusing images

Wherever possible, it is best practice to create and use your own images. However, this is not always possible. You may be required to re-use images in your professional life. We’ll examine how to find and reuse images appropriately and discuss attribution.

Finding and using images

Like other copyrighted materials, images are considered stolen when they are not used in accordance with their license terms. You can negotiate with the copyright owner to license an image for your specific purposes, however a fee will likely apply.

A simpler way is to make use of images that are released under the exceptions discussed in the Permission Exception page such as licenced under a Creative Commons or in the public domain. 

As a reminder, you must still check the specific terms of Creative Commons licenses to be sure they are suitable for your purpose. Avoid those that feature:

• a Non Commercial (‘NC’) clause which prohibits activities for commercial purposes, or
• a No Derivatives (ND) clause, which means it cannot be adapted into a new work.

Video length: 1 min 45 sec

How to attribute your use of images

Just like with other materials, you will need to attribute images you use professionally unless an exception applies. The form or format of attribution may vary according to the license. To make this easier, free image sites (i.e. Pixabay etc) will include information in their terms and conditions that specify how you should attribute the image you are using.

In general though, the format to attribute Creative Commons or public domain images is:

• Title of the work, Author, Source, and License (link to)

Note: When attributing the work on the internet, you can hyperlink the title rather than including the URL to make this look neater.

Watch the following video (2 min 28 sec) to learn more.