A presentation for high school journalists on finding and using legally permitted photos on the web and in print.

1. Finding and using
legally permitted
photos
Beatrice Motamedi
The Urban School of San Francisco
January 2012
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus, 2010. U.S. government work/photo
by Center for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/
xmrv/index.html) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia
Commons
@ 2012 Beatrice Motamedi
Sunday, July 22, 12

2. What “legally permitted” means
• You have permission from the person who owns the photo (not me or a student
editor) to run the photo in the Legend in print or online.
• Running the photo will not violate someone’s copyright (his or her legal claim to the
photo).
• There are plenty of online sites that offer legally permitted photos. However, it’s your
responsibility to double-check the license information and make sure that a photo is
okay for us to use.
• If we use a non-legal photo, we could be sued for copyright infringement, and we
could have to pay (a lot).
Sunday, July 22, 12

3. What “permission” looks like
Sunday, July 22, 12

4. Also this ... from morgueFile
Sunday, July 22, 12

5. A general rule:
You must have permission from the
photographer, photo service (Getty, Associated
Press, Agence France-Presse) or the institution
that owns the photo (for example, a photo of an
exhibit at the SF Museum of Modern Art, a photo
of a ballgame by the SF Giants) before using a
photo in print or online.
Sunday, July 22, 12

6. Is this photo worth $1,000?
Photo by Getty
Images.
Don’t worry; I can
use this thanks to
the Fair Use
exemption for
education. But I can’t
publish or distribute
it beyond this
classroom.
Sunday, July 22, 12

7. More guidelines
• A photo you take as a Legend staff member is safer and usually better than almost
anything else. Plus, you’re a student publication, right? Why not use student work?
• Photos of book covers and movie posters may be taken from a publisher or movie
studio’s website and used in print or online, but only in connection with a review of
the book (Fair Use exemption).
• Very old photos — ones that are in the public domain — may be used freely.
• Photos taken by an arm of the U.S. government also may be used freely.
• Many newspapers/wire services will give you permission to re-run their photos with
attribution. We’ve done this several times (SF Chronicle, AP). It’s worth a try. But you
have to call the photo editor and get the permission in writing.
Sunday, July 22, 12

8. What’s public domain, and when does it apply?
“A Harvest of Death,” Gettysburg, July 1863.
Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer. Photo from
the American Memory project (public domain).
Sunday, July 22, 12

9. So ... could you use that photo?
Public domain is the phrase used to identify works that are not protected
by copyright, and may be used without restriction by anyone. Public
domain applies to work that is 1) old — it was produced or published prior
to 1928; 2) the author or photographer has failed to meet U.S. copyright
requirements, or 3) it was produced by an arm of the U.S. government.
Generally, works produced prior to 1923 are in the public domain. Any
work created after 1989 automatically has a copyright during the life of the
author, plus 78 years. Works created between 1923 and 1989 may be
copyrighted depending on whether or not certain rules were followed.
For more details, see: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/copyright/
publicdomain.html#a
Sunday, July 22, 12

10. Where to find a legal photo
• Start with Creative Commons — the best place to search for legally permitted
images, with links to Wikipedia Commons, Flickr and Google.
• They actually want you to share and use creative work, and even remix/alter it:
“Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical
infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation.”
• Check “I want something that I can use for commercial purposes” in order to find
photos you can re-publish in print or online.
• Check “I want something that I can (check) modify, adapt, or build upon” if you
intend to do a photo illustration.
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11. Creative Commons search page
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12. U.S. government photostream on Flickr
• Search by topic (“war in Afghanistan”) or agency (Centers for Disease Control,
NASA)
• Identify the photo as government work and attribute it to the agency that did
it, e.g., “U.S. government work/photo by NASA”
• Another good meta-site: http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml
Sunday, July 22, 12

13. Possibly the most downloaded photo, ever
“Blue Marble,” U.S. government work/photo by NASA Goddard Photo and Video.
For more on the history of NASA’s “blue marble” photo project, click on http://
www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/features/blue_marble.html
Sunday, July 22, 12

14. OpenPhoto
• Tip: Click on any of the
categories, then the photo you
like. Look for the “CC: Attribution-
Share Alike” phrase under the
photographer’s name; this lets you
know that you can use the photo
(but make sure you attribute it to
the photographer).
• It’s .net, not .com.
Photo by Rajendra Singh at OpenPhoto.net/
Creative Commons license.
Sunday, July 22, 12

15. morgueFile
• Tip: Click on “free photos” and
then the photo you like. Some —
like the photo at right — will say
that you don’t have to attribute
them, but for the Legend in print/
online, you still should.
• it’s .com.
Photo by violetwinters at morgueFile.com/
Creative Commons license.
Sunday, July 22, 12

16. Wikimedia
Commons: “How the
heck did they get
those photos?”
View of Tower 2 of the World Trade Center, taken from Tower 1. Photo by Sander Lamme
(Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia
Commons.
To see the photo/credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:WTC_New_York_1992_Sander_Lamme.jpg#file
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17. Wikimedia: Click on “images,” then search by
keyword (easiest way)
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18. Occupy on Wikimedia
Look for the day-by-day gallery
of photos from Wall Street,
Austin, Oakland, other locations.
You could construct your own
(legally permitted) photo timeline.
An unidentified woman holds up a sign on Sept. 28, 2011, Day 12 of the
Occupy Wall Street protest at New York’s Zuccotti Park. Photo by David
Shankbone at Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons license.
Sunday, July 22, 12

19. Credit lines
• Write them to give credit to the photographer and/or source of the photo.
• Always begin with “Photo by (name of photographer)” or “Photo courtesy
of” (name of source).
• “Photo by” and “Photo courtesy of” are not permission. Make sure you have
permission. If you don’t, “courtesy” will not protect you.
• Attribute the photo to the photographer whenever possible.
• If the photographer specifies a credit line, use it (see Sander).
• Remember to end your credit line with a period.
Sunday, July 22, 12

20. Examples
• A photo by a Legend staff member or • A photo of a book cover or movie
photographer: Photo by Sonja Bartlett. poster, which you are using alongside
a review: Photo from Random House/
fair use exemption.
• A CC-licensed photo that you got off
Flickr or a similar photosite: Photo by
Sonja Bartlett at Flickr.com/Creative • A photo that you got from Sonja
Commons license. Bartlett, photographer for the
Associated Press, and the AP photo
editor has given you permission to run
• A photo that was taken by a it: Photo courtesy of Sonja Bartlett of
photographer who has given you the Associated Press/used with
written permission: Photo courtesy of permission.
Sonja Bartlett/used with permission.
• A photo that you took from a
• A photo that is in the public domain government agency website: U.S.
(mention date of photo in caption): Government Work/photo by Centers
Photo from the American Memory for Disease Control.
Project (public domain).
Sunday, July 22, 12