As was mentioned earlier in the lesson, by the rules of intellectual property from the start, it is not advisable to do an image search and assume what you find has no claim tied to it. However, certain imagery is understood to be available to the public. Social media posts such as memes (visual jokes and soapbox statements) are made with the desire that they be shared with as many people as possible to get a point across.
When it comes to imagery you’d like to include in your website, though, it’s safest to use one of three resources. First, it is safe to use photos or graphics that you created yourself. However, your images still shouldn’t contain any copyrighted material, such as a product’s logo.
Another option is to purchase stock images. Many websites exist exclusively to sell the rights to work submitted by photographers and graphic artists. This is the route that businesses will take, as stock imagery tends to be the most professional and visually appealing. But for an individual who is just making a website for a hobby, the cost of stock imagery can be pretty steep.
So what if you don’t have much money to spend and don’t have the resources to create certain graphics? Some websites carry images that are shared with a Creative Commons license. Images under Creative Commons are images you can use as long as you follow their included guidelines, which can be a combination of any of the following:
 Attribution (by) |
You provide credit (often include a hyperlink) to the original author wherever you display the image. The author dictates what the attribution needs to include. Attribution of some sort is always required with Creative Commons pieces. |
 NonCommercial (nc) |
As the name indicates, an image with this restriction cannot be used for any commercial purpose. |
 NoDerivs (nd) |
Short for “no derivatives,” this restricts the work from being altered in any way. |
 ShareAlike (sa) |
Any repurposing or altering of the work will need to be shared under the same restrictions as the original. So if the original work is Attribution, NonCommercial and ShareAlike, the new version you create must carry these restrictions as well. |
