1. Copyright Is the Default
In the United States, copyright protection is automatic. The moment a person creates an original work — a photo, a song, a piece of writing — it is copyrighted. You do not need a © symbol or a registration. The absence of a copyright notice does not mean the work is free to use.
Using a copyrighted work without permission — including on a class project uploaded to the web — is infringement. "I found it on Google" is not a defense.
2. Fair Use (and Its Limits)
Fair use is a legal doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without permission in certain circumstances — commentary, criticism, education, parody. It is not a blanket free pass for educational use.
Courts weigh four factors to determine fair use:
- Purpose — Is the use commercial or educational? Transformative (adding new meaning) or direct copying?
- Nature of the work — Is the original factual or creative? Creative works get stronger protection.
- Amount used — How much of the original are you using?
- Market effect — Does your use harm the market for the original?
Fair use requires a case-by-case judgment. When in doubt, find a properly licensed alternative.
3. Public Domain
Works in the public domain have no copyright restrictions — you can use them freely without permission or payment. Works enter the public domain when:
- Their copyright term has expired. In the U.S., works published before 1928 are generally in the public domain.
- The creator deliberately released them into the public domain (using a CC0 license).
- They were created by the U.S. federal government.
Good sources for public domain images include the Library of Congress (loc.gov), Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org), and The Public Domain Review (publicdomainreview.org).
4. Creative Commons Licenses
Creative Commons (CC) licenses let creators share their work on specific terms without giving up copyright entirely. There are six main CC licenses, built from four conditions:
| Symbol | Condition | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| BY | Attribution | You must credit the creator |
| SA | ShareAlike | Derivatives must use the same license |
| ND | NoDerivatives | You cannot alter or remix the work |
| NC | NonCommercial | You cannot use it for commercial purposes |
The most permissive license for web projects is CC BY — you can use and adapt the work as long as you credit the creator. CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) is effectively public domain — no conditions at all.
5. Where to Find Free-to-Use Content
- Images: Unsplash (unsplash.com), Pexels (pexels.com), Pixabay (pixabay.com) — all free for most uses
- Icons & Graphics: The Noun Project (thenounproject.com, CC BY), Font Awesome (fontawesome.com)
- Music: Free Music Archive (freemusicarchive.org), ccMixter (ccmixter.org)
- Searching by license: On Google Images, click Tools → Usage Rights → Creative Commons licenses
- Flickr: Use the license filter to find CC-licensed photos
Always read the specific license for each item — even on free-image sites, some photos may have additional restrictions.
6. How to Write Proper Attribution
When a license requires attribution (BY), use the TASL format:
- Title of the work
- Author / creator name
- Source URL
- License name and link
Example attribution for a footer or caption:
"Sunrise Over the Gulf" by Jane Smith is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Source: flickr.com/photos/janesmith/12345678