I'm sure my students don't think twice about taking images off the Internet and pasting them into their reports or PowerPoint presentations. The reality is that unless permission is given to download or copy an image, it is considered plagiarism. Right. Tell that to my high school students and they will genuinely be surprised. They actually think that everything on the web is there for the taking. Here's where I share with them the beauty of Creative Commons licensing and public domain images. Not familiar with the various licenses? Read about them here.
"Creative Commons is a non-profit that offers an alternative to full copyright."
Public Domain images are not protected by copyright and are available for anyone to use.
5,000 Free Stock Photos- includes 8,000 free cliparts
Animal Photos!- huge listing
The Best Copyright-Free Photographs- taken by U.S. Government employees for their work
Burning Well- public domain image source
Clipart Etc.- over 65,000 pieces of clipart free to educators
The Commons on Flickr- world public photo collection
Creativity103.com- more than 2,500 files; abstract backgrounds, textures and design ideas
EduPic Graphical Resource- free image resource for educators and students
FedFlix- "best movies of the United States Government, from training films to history, from our national parks to the U.S. Fire Academy and the Postal Inspectors, all of these fine flix are available for reuse without any restrictions whatsoever."
Flickr Creative Commons Search- inside Flickr; searches only CC images
Geograph-photos of the British Isles
Google Advanced Search- when you search something in the advanced mode, you can choose from four choices: 1. free to use or share 2. free to use or share, even commercially 3. free to use share or modify 4. free to use, share or modify, even commercially
Imagebase- with hundreds of pages of images; from photographer David Niblack
Karen's Whimsy- Easter bunnies, illuminated letters, Canterbury Tales, medieval art
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Karen's Whimsy- Easter bunnies, illuminated letters, Canterbury Tales, medieval art
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
LiveBinders- many, many more links to other image sites under CC
MorgueFile- search images by subject, size or rating
National Digital Library- from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
National Digital Library- from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Open Clip Art Library- about 11,000 total
Open Icon Library- over free 10,000 icons
The Noun Project- symbols, diagrams
PhotoEverywhere-free travel-themed stock images; 3,000+
Photos8- free stock pictures; close to two-dozen categories to choose from
Wikimedia Commons- browse their database of over 1.6 millions images!
WorldImages Kiosk- California State University's database houses around 80,000 images
Wylio- free pictures for bloggers
