I’ve had several people ask me where I get all the images for our blog posts. Just about every one I get through Flickr’s Creative Commons image search, which means I can use them for free as long as I give proper credit to the author.
What’s Creative Commons?
Creative Commons is an alternative type of copyright where the author gets to tell you how you can’t use the work (whereas regular copyright they have to tell you what you can use it for). Flickr provides a search of all the various types of Creative Commons licenses, so you can easily find an image that you’re allowed to use for commercial purposes. Usually all you have to do is give attribution (credit the author).
How do I know which License is Ok to Use?
Creative Commons licenses are very easy to understand. Here’s some of the different types of licences:
- Attribution
- Attribution-NoDerivs
- Attribution-Non-Commercial-NoDerivs
- Attribution-Non-Commercial
- Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike
Pretty easy to understand in what ways the author/creator wants you to use their work.
How do I find Flickr Creative Commons Images?
Flickr has setup a Creative Commons page where you can see all the different images and search based on the one that fits your needs.
What if I want to use the Creative Commons license for my own images?
Flickr supports Creative Commons licensing when you upload an image. For more information about Creative Commons, check their website. You can also use Creative Commons for other types of work.
(photo by demarcus romero @ Flickr CC)
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