What Images Can I Use For Free on Google Images?
Many photographers and other image creators choose to share their work under a Creative Commons license that allows you to modify, publish or reuse their images for non-commercial purposes. Always check the image’s licence information and attribute.
Google has updated search to make it easier to find free-to-use images and learn more about licensing options. However, that doesn’t mean you can ignore copyright law.
1. Creative Commons Images
Despite popular belief, it is still illegal to use pictures you find online without the proper copyright permission. It is important to know how to do a quick copyright search to make sure the images you plan to use are free and not subject to any restrictions. The more you understand about Creative Commons and how it works the better you can avoid getting into trouble with copyright infringement.
Creative Commons is a set of licenses that allows image authors to publish their content and allow others to use it for free. It incorporates several levels of licensing including those that allow for commercial use and those that disallow derivative work. It also requires attribution which is the name of the author and a link back to the source page where you found the image.
You can find Creative Commons images on sites such as Flickr and Wikimedia Commons. Some of these websites also offer a variety of other images that are public domain or otherwise not subject to copyright. Using these sites can help you find images for your blog posts, social media and other projects. Just be sure to attribute them when you use them and never alter them in any way.
Google offers a feature on their search engine that allows you to filter for Creative Commons images. However, it is not a guarantee that the images you will find will actually be licensed as Creative Commons. It is better to use a site such as Unsplash, Pixabay or Morguefile that features vetted Creative Commons photos.
When searching for an image on Google, select the search option in the upper right of the page. Next, click “Tools” and then “Usage Rights”. This will provide you with the ability to filter for Creative Commons or other types of licensing that would allow for their use without incurring any legal repercussions. This is a good tool to use when teaching students about the basics of copyright law and how to search for images on the internet. This will help prevent the mistaken belief that just because something is on the internet it is free to use.
2. Public Domain Images
There are a number of websites that offer images for free, which fall under the public domain. However, it is still important to be aware of copyright laws and ensure that you are not violating any rights by using these images. There are laws that protect the unauthorized use of text and also those pertaining to unauthorized use of images. This is why it is a good idea to only use images that you either create yourself or those that are freely available.
If you do not have express permission from the owner or a Creative Commons license then you are probably breaking copyright laws and this can lead to serious legal repercussions. It is a good idea to only use images from sources that are known to be safe and that have been clearly labeled as such.
Fortunately, Google has made it much easier to find images that are free-to-use. They have now included a filter for “Usage Rights” which makes it possible to sort photos by their license and even tells you how to obtain permission for an image directly in its description.
Another way to find free-to-use images is to use a stock photo website such as Unsplash. These sites have thousands of beautiful pictures that are all free to download and can be used for any purpose without restriction. However, they do require attribution in return.
Other stock photo websites include Pixabay and Pexels. Both of these sites have a large selection of beautiful photographs and drawings that are all free to download for personal or commercial use, although it may be polite to attribute them to the author if possible.
3. Copyrighted Images
Copyright is a set of rights that gives the creator of an original work the exclusive right to reproduce, display, or distribute that work. Copyrighted images are protected by the same laws that protect written works, and those rights extend to digital images as well. Using copyrighted images without permission is called copyright infringement, and it can result in legal action against the person or organization that infringes on a copyright.
If an image is clearly marked with copyright information such as a watermark, the c symbol, or caption information that indicates ownership or sourcing, it’s generally safe to assume that it is copyrighted and that you need permission from the owner to use it. In recent years, Google has implemented initiatives to make it easier for you to find credit, creator and copyright information in your image searches. See our article Google’s ‘Licensable Images’ Feature is Now Live for more information.
When you search for photos on Google, you can filter by ‘Creative Commons licenses’ or ‘Commercial and other licenses’ to find images that are free to use. However, it’s still important to check that an image you are interested in has a license that meets your needs. For example, many Creative Commons images require attribution while others prohibit commercial use and modification of the image.
There’s no doubt that images can be a powerful marketing tool for any practice, but it’s important to understand that not all photos are available to you for free. Despite what many believe, digital images aren’t up for grabs and using one without permission could land you in trouble. To learn more about how to avoid copyright issues when searching for images, read our tip sheet 6 Copyright Tips for Legally Using Photos and Images. You can also sign up to our free eTutorial 21 Virtual Ways to Build Copyright Awareness in Your Practice, which includes several interactive, multimedia presentations that you can present in your practice or library. This eTutorial is a great resource for building copyright awareness among your staff and patients.
4. Licensed Images
Licensed images are those that have been granted permission to be used under specific conditions. These images typically require credit and may also restrict how the image can be modified or used. Some examples of licensed images include those from iStock and other stock image sites.
Using these images without proper licensing could lead to legal issues, even for personal websites that are not for commercial purposes. The best way to avoid any potential issues is to only use images that you have created yourself, those that are in the public domain, or those that are labeled for reuse with Creative Commons or similar licenses.
For those times when you are unable to create your own image, it is important to understand how to properly search for images and photos on Google to find ones that can be legally used. Educating yourself and your colleagues on copyright laws is also an important step in avoiding any legal issues. Download our free e-tip sheet, 6 Copyright Tips for Legally Using Google Images, to learn more about copyright law and how it applies to using images in the workplace.
In addition to searching by Creative Commons and Commercial & Other licenses, Google offers other ways to search for images that can be used under different conditions. The search engine allows you to narrow the images displayed by color, and can search for images with a particular subject matter such as faces, photographs, line drawings (for illustration searches), or clip art. You can also search by image size and resolution.
When you click on a photo, it will display the image and its caption as well as information about how the image can be used. It will also offer a link to purchase the full-resolution version of the image if you want to use it for commercial or other non-personal uses.
If you are looking for images that can be used under more restrictive terms, you should also consider searching on image-sharing websites such as Pixabay or Unsplash. These sites have large collections of images that can be used under a variety of Creative Commons and other licenses, including those that restrict modification or require credit.