Copyright Basics and Beyond: Free Resources

Openverse

• Formerly known as CC Search from Creative Commons, Openverse searches over 600 million images, including cultural works from museums, graphic designs, art works, and, photos. Once you have your search results, you can filter your results by license type, image type, image size, and several other options.

Flickr

• Using the Advanced Search feature on Flickr, you can limit your results to CC-licensed images by changing the "Any license" setting to “All creative commons.” Other images free of copyright restrictions can be found using the Images from the "no known copyright restrictions" filter. These include public domain images from the U.S. Government, such as the National Archives Photostream.  

Wikimedia Commons

• Wikimedia Commons is a repository making available over 80,000,000 media files in the public domain or licensed for reuse. 

Library of Congress - Prints and Photographs

• This collection has over 1,200,000 images from the Library's collections. Rights information is available for each image - look for the field marked "Rights Advisory." Many collections have no known restrictions on use. For further information about using the collection, read the Copyright and Other Restrictions That Apply to Publication/Distribution of Images. Information on restrictions on use by collection is also available.

New York Public Library

• This collection contains more than 180,000 photographs, postcards, maps and other public-domain items from the library’s special collections in downloadable high-resolution files. There are no restrictions on use, and NYPL encourages you to "go forth and reuse!"

Europeana

• Europeana provides access to millions of digitized items from European museums, libraries, and archives. After getting your search results, use the "CAN I USE THIS?" filter to limit your results to reusable images.

Unsplash

• Unsplash has over 2,000,000 free stock images from more than 200,000 photographers. All photos may be downloaded and used for free. Read more about Unsplash.

Pixabay

• Pixabay has over 2.5 million stock images that are free to download and use. All are released under the Pixabay License and may be used for commercial and noncommercial purposes with few restrictions, and attribution is not required. Search results on Pixabay display "Sponsored images" at the top of the page. These images are from Shutterstock and require a fee for download and use. Read more about Pixabay.

Pexels

• Pexels has a large collection of stock photos and videos that are free to download and use.  All images and videos are licensed under the Pexels License and can be used without restrictions. Read more about Pexels.

British Library

• The British Library’s collection on flickr allows access to over 1 million public domain images from the Library's collections. Read more about use of these images.

Getty Images

• This site has open content from the Getty Museum's collections. More information about the content of the collections and how they can be used is available on their Open Content Program page.

The Met

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art has made images of artworks it believes to be in the public domain freely available for unrestricted use. Their Open Access Policy page has details about the collection and its use.

National Gallery of Art

• NGA Images is a repository of images presumed to be in the public domain from the collections of the National Gallery of Art. 

Smithsonian

• Smithsonian Open Access includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo. All are free to use without restrictions. Read more in their Open Access FAQ. 

Victoria & Albert Museum

• These images of art from the collections of the V&A are available for certain non-commercial uses, including some academic publishing. Read the terms and conditions to see if your use qualifies.

Free Music Archive

• The Free Music Archive offers free downloads under Creative Commons and other licenses. License terms are shown on the download pages.

Wikimedia Commons

• Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and Creative Commons licensed media content. You can search from the main Wikipedia Commons page and limit your results to Audio, or browse all of their audio files, including music, spoken word, and other sounds. 

ccMixter

• This is a community music remixing site featuring remixes and samples licensed under Creative Commons licenses.

Audio Library

• In the YouTube Audio Library, you can find royalty-free production music and sound effects to use in your videos.

Audio Archive

• This library contains recordings ranging from alternative news programming, to Grateful Dead concerts, to Old Time Radio shows, to book and poetry readings, to original music uploaded by users. Many are available for free download. 

BBC Sound Effects 

• There are over 33,000 clips from across the world from the past 100 years. These include clips made by the BBC Radiophonic workshop, recordings from the Blitz in London, special effects made for BBC TV and Radio productions, as well as 15,000 recordings from the Natural History Unit archive. he sounds may be used The BBC content may be used for non-commercial, personal or research purposes, and for formal education purposes while you are a student or a member of staff of a school, college or university. View the full terms of use.
• BBC Sound Effects is also available in a collection of 40 CDs that can be easily ripped for use in a digital project. The sounds are licensed to be used in audio, video, and film productions. To find sound effects, use this list and note the CD and track numbers. Ask for the CDs at the Library's Service Desk (call number CD 3696)

Legal Music for Videos

• This page form Creative Commons has links to additional sites for CC-licensed audio files.

Musopen

• Musopen is a 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on increasing access to music by creating free resources and educational materials. They provide recordings, sheet music, and textbooks to the public for free, without copyright restrictions. 

SoundBible.com

• SoundBible.com offers free sound clips for download in either WAV or MP3 format. The Royalty Free Sounds can indeed be used for commercial uses. The free sounds can only if they are under the Creative Commons Attribution, or Public Domain License.

Freesound

• Freesound is a collaborative database of sounds released under Creative Commons licenses.

Center for the of the Public Doman 

• This site has a list of well-known works that have entered the public domain in recent years (archives go back to 2010).

HathiTrust 

• Leading this era by empowering a diverse collective of research and teaching libraries from around the globe. Their digital library preserves the published record for durable, long-term, and lawful access, stewarded in partnership with the academic institutions supporting our work. 

MERLOT

• The MERLOT system provides access to curated online learning and support materials and content creation tools, led by an international community of educators, learners and researchers.

MIT Open Course Ware

• OCW is a free and open publication of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum. That's every MIT department and degree program, ranging from the introductory to the most advanced graduate level.

NY Public Library Digital Collections 

• Explore 863,600 items digitized from The New York Public Library's collections, including letters and manuscripts. 

OER Commons

• OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources. Explore, create, and collaborate with educators around the world to improve curriculum.

Project Gutenberg 

• You will find the world’s great literature here, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired.

YouTube

• YouTube is platform that allows users to watch videos that have been uploaded and shared by other users. There is a very broad range of videos which are created not only by individuals but also by organizations and corporations. When you get your search results, set the filter to Creative Commons to limit your results to CC-licensed videos.

Vimeo

• Vimeo is another platform that allows users to watch videos that have been uploaded and shared by others. When you get your search results, under Refine by, select +More Filters, then License, to limit your results to CC-licensed videos. Vimeo also has pages where you can browse all of Vimeo's Creative Commons licensed videos or public domain videos.

Wikimedia Commons

• Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed media content. Wikimedia Commons has a page where you can browse all of Wikimedia's Creative Commons licensed videos.

Moving Image Archive

• This library contains digital movies uploaded by Archive users which range from classic full-length films, to daily alternative news broadcasts, to cartoons and concerts. Many of these videos are available for free download.

Prelinger Archive

• This archive collects, preserves, and provides access to films of historic significance that haven't been collected elsewhere. Included are films produced by and for many US corporations, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, community and interest groups, and educational institutions, as well as home movies and amateur films. Many films from this archive are in the public domain.

TED Talks

• TED has a collection of short (18 minutes or less) videos from "inspired thinkers." Videos are made available under the Creative Commons CC BY–NC–ND license. The site has a detailed usage policy which includes instructions on embedding TED Talks on a blog or site.