Creative Commons is an organization that provides legal tools, or licenses, to share and reuse creativity and knowledge. Many images on the internet have Creative Commons (or CC) licenses applied to them. That means you can use them without having to contact the photographer for permission to reuse, as long as you give the correct attribution for the image. There are many different types of CC licenses, but the important thing to remember is cite the image using the same CC license that is already on the image.
When you find a Creative Commons image you want to reuse, the single most important thing to know is how to provide attribution. All CC licenses require that attribution be given to the creator.
The elements of attribution are simple, though generally speaking, the more information you can provide, the better. People like to understand where CC licensed works come from, and creators like to know their names will remain attached to their works. If an author has provided extensive information in their attribution notice, retain it where possible.
The best practice for attribution is applying the “TASL” approach.
If you follow the TASL format, your attribution statement for an image should look like this, with additional connector words:
"Title" by Author is licensed under (License)
or
"Title" by Author is in the public domain
or
"Title by Author is used with permission (Use this if you've contacted the photographer and received written permission that you can reuse.)
Notice that there isn't a place in the statement for the Source. That's because the source url (the website you got the image from) should be linked to the Title of the image.
"Jupiter Great Red Spot" by NASA/JPL is from the public domain
"Donuts" by Ferry Sitompul is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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"Cedar Point animal farm baby goat" by Bobby Proffer is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
"California poppy 1" by Artslave used under CC BY 2.0 / Cropped from the original
The CC licenses tell you to be reasonable. There is no one right way; just make sure your attribution is reasonable and suited to the medium you're working with. That being said, you still have to include the TASL attribution requirements somehow, even if it's just a link to an About page that has that info.
Some content on this page is from "Finding and Reusing CC-Licensed Work" by Creative Commons Certificate for Librarians, used under CC BY 4.0
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