Image Copyright Do’s and Don’ts

When I teach professional development classes, by far the topic that surprises attendees the most is the legal use of online images. And they’re not alone. On my blog, in educator forums, and in the virtual meetings I moderate, there is much confusion about what can be grabbed for free from online sites and what must be cited with a linkback, credit, author’s name, public domain reference, or specific permission from the creator. When I receive guest posts that include pictures, many contributors tell me the photo can be used because they include the linkback.

That’s not always true. In fact, the answer to the question…

“What online images can I use?”

typically starts with…

It depends…

To try to understand this topic in a five-minute blog post or thirty-minute webinar is a prescription for failure. It is too big. Instead, I’ll cover only four main subtopics with a (very) quick overview and where you can find more resources to extend your learning.

Plagiarism

In general terms, you must cite sources for:

• facts not commonly known or accepted
• exact words and/or unique phrase
• reprints of diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, or other visual materials
• opinions that support research

Watch the online life of a photo posted by an unknowing student.

Digital privacy

Digital privacy is constantly under attack in a world where people post everything they do on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. 6 Degrees of Information reinforces how easy is it to find out about anyone by following the crumbs left during their online surfing. Next, watch Eduardo post pictures he considers innocent in Two Kinds of Stupid. One more: this video on Online Reputations.

Copyrights

Copyrights range from public domain—creative work that can be used without permission or notification—to intensely private—available only to view and usually on the host website.  Here’s a simple review of copyright law I use to start the discussion.

The law states that works of art created in the U.S. after January 1, 1978, are automatically protected by copyright once they are fixed in a tangible medium (like the Internet) BUT a single copy may be used for scholarly research (even if that’s a 2nd grade life cycle report) or in teaching or preparation to teach a class.

You can find out more through the video, ‘Copyright Explained’ .

‘Fair Use’ is why students and teachers can grab online images without obtaining permission from the creator. It allows for a single use for educational purposes–nothing more. For more on this topic (especially if you have children), watch A Fair(y) Use Tale.

If you don’t qualify for Fair Use and are looking for public domain images through Google, the screenshot below shows how to adjust your search parameters to find only freely-available, legal online images (in Google Images, click Tools>Usage Rights):

The following sites provide mostly public domain images:

• Open Clip Art
• Open Photo
• Pixabay
• Smithsonian Wild
• Stock Exchange
• Wiki Images

If you find an online image you like, figuring out if you can use it is often time-intensive but necessary. If you can’t find the copyright notice on the site that’s hosting the image, pick a different image. Here are two examples:

The bottom one requires attribution—a linkback or credit–so I’ve provided it here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crazymandi/. It’s worth noting that most Flikr images require credit and/or a linkback.

Here’s a general collection of websites addressing copyrights and digital law that will help to address your specific areas of interest:

• Copyright and Fair Use
• Copyright Law Explained
• Copyright law curriculum
• Creative Commons
• Videos on licensing, copyrights, more

Make-your-own Graphics

A great way to avoid the worry surrounding the legal use of online images is to create your own. You can use software such as Paint, Photoshop, and GIMP, or an image creation tool like:

• BigHugeLabs
• Graffiti Creator
• Mondrimat
• Mutapic
• Photoshop app (on iPads)
• Psychopaint
• Tessellate!

If these don’t work for you, here’s a list of websites or apps with lots more options.

–published first to Today’s Author

More on copyrights:

• an online self-paced class with 13 topics
• a webinar
• a K-8 curriculum

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Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, and the thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and  Twenty-four Days. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer,  a columnist for TeachHUB, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her books at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.

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