ANTH 307: Forensic Anthropology

Not everything you find on the internet is free to use. When you searching for images and other media, keep these things in mind: 

• Stick to media that has a stated license
  • Look for media that has a clearly stated license attached to it, such as Creative Commons and public domain. You can read more about types of Creative Commons licenses here. 
• Consider Fair Use
  • If you only plan to use your materials in the classroom, you may fall under the "fair use" umbrella, as long as you are citing your sources. You can review a brief overview of Fair Use here.
  • To help understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code, use the Fair Use Evaluator tool
• Make your own content
  • Have a specific vision but you can't find the perfect media? Make your own! 
• Ask permission
  • If you want to use something, but you don't see permissions listed or aren't sure, you can reach out to the site or artist to ask for permission. 

Google Images allows you to filter by the type of usage rights associated with an image:

1. Once you've conducted a search, select "Tools" 
2. Under "Usage Rights" select "Creative Commons licenses"

Creative Commons: Creative Commons licenses give creators the power to set specific guidelines for how their property is shared and reused. Creative Commons licenses will either state that it is licensed for reuse under a CC license or will have a CC marker like the ones below:

Find out what each of these symbols means on the Creative Commons website. 

Public Domain: Public domain materials are owned by the public, and not protected by any intellectual property laws. Anyone is free to use public domain materials with out permission or restriction. Often, materials enter the public domain because the copyright has expired, but there are a number of avenues that can lead to materials entering the public domain. You can read more about the public domain on Stanford Library's copyright and fair use guide. 

Below is a list of a few sites with Creative Commons-licensed and/or public domain media.

• Wikimedia Commons
  • A large database of public domain and Creative Commons images, sounds, maps, and other media. When you search for media, you can filter by licensing type and/or view the license below the image:

• New York Public Library Digital Collections
  • Includes nearly 1 million items digitized by the NY Public Library. When searching for media, you can either select "search only public domain materials" from the dropdown menu, or look for the rights information for a specific image under "item data." 
• Getty Open Content Program
  • Portions of the Getty Institute's collections have been made publicly available for download and reuse. You can search the collection here. 
• Creative Commons search
  • Portal that allows you to search a wide range of Creative Commons sites. Select the website you'd like to search from the list. 
• POND5 Free Images
  • Although much of this site is paywalled, there are a number of high quality free stock images available. 
• Freesound Project
  • A collaborative database of downloadable Creative Commons audio. 
• Pixabay
  • Includes a searchable collection of royalty-free stock images.