Image Searching and Copyright
Why You Should Care and What You Should Do About It
Day One: Why You Should Care
As teachers, it is our job to model conscientious scholarship and ethical behavior for our students. We teach our students about plagiarism and citing sources, but most of us don't realize that images are also copyrighted material. REMEMBER: JUST BECAUSE IT'S ON THE INTERNET, THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S FREE! Those images were still created by someone, and copyright laws still apply.
If we don't care about copyright, our students won't care either!
Copyright Statement
Make sure you check for a copyright statement or licensing information before you use that image! These kinds of statements usually aren’t immediately obvious; you may have to search the site carefully to find the information. Look for statements like “all rights reserved” or “terms of use.” If you can’t find a copyright statement, don’t assume that means you can use the image. Ask for permission from the copyright holder first.
Public Domain: Available to Use
What makes an image public domain?
Copyright has expired.
Everything published before 1923.
Nothing published after 1963.
Some things published between 1923 and 1963, depending on a variety of factors.
They were created by the US government.
- It is not eligible for copyright for some other reason.