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Finding Free to Use Stock Photos

kid-carAfter writing an awesome blog post you realize that there is just one element missing – an image. We all know the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” So, you go searching the web for that perfect image to complement your article.

While searching on Google, you see one that looks just right. Without a second thought, you simply right click and hit save as. You breathe a sigh of relief, thankful that your hunt for the perfect image has come to an end. What you didn’t consider is that one click, could land you in loads of trouble.

That image might be protected by a copyright. It’s important for all those who operate in the virtual space to have an understanding of the laws that govern the use of images. Because what you don’t know can hurt you, or in this case, “cost you.”

While, I don’t want to bore you too much with the legalities of a “copyright.” You should have a basic understanding of what it is.

According to Article I, Section 8, clause 8, of the United States Constitution, the purpose of copyright laws is to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” In essence it protects original works of an author, whether that’s written, musical, art, photography, etc. It prevents someone else from using that author’s work without permission.

What about Fair Use? Well, while this does give some wiggle room there are some specific criteria that need to be met. The Fair Use clause allows for a reasonable and limited usage as long as it doesn’t infringe on the owners’ rights or ability to work.

In order to be considered Fair Use, the item under question must be used for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research; or the image or work must be transformed in such a way that it creates a new work. Now for the most part when we add images to blog posts, it’s not for any of those purposes. It’s generally to enhance the aesthetics of the blog. If that were the case, using an image protected by copyright on your blog would not meet the Fair Use standards.

To protect yourself, you should assume that images found on the web are copyright and shouldn’t make free use of them without permission.

You might be panicking and hyperventilating now. Chances are that you’re not going to go out and take original photos to use in your blog posts. I have two words – calm down. All is not lost. There are many sites that you can get stock photos from and some are even free. Yes, that’s right, I said FREE. In addition, there are creative common license and public domain sites.

A great place to see a visual representation of when you can or cannot use a photo is by checking out the infographic in this post “Can I Use that Picture? The Terms, Laws, and Ethics for Using Copyrighted Images”

Now the moment you have been waiting for. Below are some sites that you can grab photos from for free, without looking over your shoulder for the photo police.

If you have any other sites that are not on this list, please comment below!

No Attribution Required Photos

(you DON’T need to say where the image came from when you use it)

Attribution requirements may change in the future, please review the site to be sure.

Attribution Required

(you DO need to say where the image came from when you use it)

Attribution requirements may change in the future, please review the site to be sure.

Photo Search Engines

Since these services search various sources, attribution may or may not be required on some images – review the details on the photo.

Update: Need even more resources, check out this great blog post.

About Mark Hodder

Mark is co-founder of Themedy along with his brother Matt. They started Themedy in 2011 to provide an alternative source of high quality, international friendly themes for the Genesis & Thesis communities. You can get in touch with Mark on Twitter @markhodder

Comments

  9. Dan Coggins says

    I’ve written these kind of posts before and they’re tough to write — so much research. Thanks for digging through this stuff for the rest of us!

  11. Nick says

    Hi Mark,

    A great post on explaining copyright and image use on one’s website.

    I also run a free stock photo library at creativeplatoon.com/free-photos/ which your readers may be interested in, new images are added daily.

    Cheers,

    Nick

  12. Jesse says

    Hey,

    Great list there. I’d love if you could add IdPinThat.com to the list as well. I created IdPinThat specifically to provide content creators a place to not only find Public Domain/Copyright free images for use on their sites, but also a browser based editor of whatever image you find. Do it all in one place.

    IdPinThat.com is young so if you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it and improve the service. (It’s free too)

  15. Bob says

    For attribution, it depends. If its cc0, you don’t need to although its always a courtesy to.
    In addition to the above resources also check out http://www.goodfreephotos.com for thousands of unique public domain photos. Appreciate it if you could add it to your list. Thanks.

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