Public Domain & Creative Commons Content - Finding Public Domain & Creative Commons Images - Research Guides at Harvard Library

Public Domain & Creative Commons Content - Finding Public Domain & Creative Commons Images - Research Guides at Harvard Library

• Pixabay
  A site that provides free, public domain images that don't even require attribution. Unfortunately, it also offers Shutterstock images, which aren't free, but they are clearly set off so I don't think users will find that too confusing.
• Public Domain Image Resources
  Wikipedia maintains a page of online resources for finding public domain images and other content online. While not all of the sites include exclusively public domain images, this list is a good place to start looking for content, particularly if you are looking for more specialized items.
• Getty Open Content Program
  The Getty recently started an Open Content Program to "share images of works of art in an unrestricted manner, freely, so that all those who create or appreciate art…will have greater access to high-quality digital images for their studies and projects." You can find these images by conducting a search on the Getty Search Gateway and then filtering your results by checking the box next to "Open Content Images", which is the second option in the Highlights section of the filters in the left menu. All images found through this program should be credited as "Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program" (see http://www.getty.edu/about/opencontent.html).
• Rijksmuseum
  Images on the Rijksmuseum website are fully searchable and downloadable. Each item that has entered the public domain includes this information in the section of the item description entitled acquisition and rights.
• Yale University Art Gallery
  The Yale University Art Gallery has stated that, pursuant to the University's Open Access policy, "anyone may use the Gallery’s open-access material without further application, authorization, or fees due to the Gallery or to Yale." Unfortunately, at this time, there is no way to limit search results to only items that are in the public domain, however, when you click on an item, the entry will state whether the image is in the public domain (see image). You can find more information on properly attributing images on the Art Gallery's Terms of Use page.