Images and photographs, among other media, are part of the original, creative works that United States copyright law protects. These works may be copyrighted even if a copyright symbol is not present. 

Images found online are likely copyrighted. Just because an image is freely accessible does not automatically mean that it can be legally reused.

Salt Lake Community College faculty, staff, and students are expected to use images in line with College policy. The good news is that there are many avenues for ensuring that you are legally incorporating images into your work.

There are many options for finding and using images, including:

Using images included in College subscriptions

Salt Lake Community College provides both Microsoft 365 and Adobe Express to active students, staff, and faculty. These subscriptions include access to stock image libraries. Use these images in your work, following the license terms. To learn more about using Microsoft and Adobe to access these stock images or for questions about the College's subscriptions, please contact the Office of Information Technology.

Use images that are in the public domain

The public domain contains works not covered by copyright. Do not assume that something is in the public domain just because it is publicly accessible. You may use photos in the public domain in your work without restrictions.

Use images that are openly licensed

Images with Creative Commons licenses may be used in line with their license terms. The different licenses specify how a work can be used. All Creative Commons licenses require attribution. For more information about the licenses and how to use Creative Commons works, contact the Open Education Librarian, Liza Boman: liza.boman@slcc.edu.

Use images from a royalty-free site

There are many sites that offer free, shareable photos. These include Pixabay and Unsplash, among many others. Using images from sites which purport to provide royalty-free photos can be a good option. However, these sites have their own content licenses, and you will need to abide by their license terms when using their media.

Use images after being granted permission

Being granted explicit permission to use an image or photo is a safe way to legally incorporate media into your work. You may also purchase a license to use an image from an aggregator, like Getty Images or another site. For more information, visit the "Permissions and Licensing" section of this resource guide.

Additionally, you may use your own work. You likely hold the copyright for photos, drawings, and images that you have created.