Where can you find legal photo material for your branding?

Visual content is essential for online communication, which is why it’s important to understand how to use images on the internet in a legal way. You can choose paid services such as Shutterstock or Envato, but in many cases, it’s also possible to use images for free, even for commercial purposes.

Want to use free images?

Two ways to use free images are through the public domain and Creative Commons licenses.

But what exactly do these terms mean, and what should you pay attention to?

Public domain

These are images whose copyrights have expired or have been waived, meaning they are freely available for anyone to use without permission or compensation. Public domain images can be copied, modified, and shared without restrictions even for commercial purposes.

Some institutions, such as libraries, museums, and other organizations, make parts of their collections available in the public domain. They often digitize artworks, allowing you to download high-quality images directly from their websites.

Creative Commons

The main difference between public domain images and images with a Creative Commons license is that public domain images are completely free to use, while Creative Commons–licensed images may only be used under certain conditions. Public domain images require no permission or attribution, whereas Creative Commons licenses often do require attribution.

Where can you find Creative Commons images?

Type	Description
Attribution (BY)	Users are allowed to copy, distribute, remix, and adapt the image, even for commercial purposes as long as they credit the creator.
Attribution-NonCommercial (BY-NC)	Users may edit and share the work, as long as it is not used for commercial purposes.
Attribution-NoDerivatives (BY-ND)	The image may be used for any purpose, including commercial use, but may not be modified or altered.
Attribution-ShareAlike (BY-SA)	Like CC BY-NC, but if you edit the image, the result must be shared under the same license.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA)	Like CC BY-NC, but if you edit the image, the result must be shared under the same license.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (BY-NC-ND)	The most restrictive license. Users may download and share the image, but may not edit it and may only use it for non-commercial purposes.

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