Whilst you are studying, researching or teaching you will likely want to use images within your work. Images such as photographs, illustrations, diagrams, charts will most likely be copyright protected, whether they are from printed resources, or online resources, such as online journals, Ebooks, databases or the internet.
There are free alternatives which allow you to freely re-use images (see section on the left, Copyright free images), usually you must provide an attribution unless the author / creator has waived their rights. You will need to check the guidelines for each resource and abide by their terms and conditions of use.
We have an extensive guide called Finding Images and Video that has lots of useful resources to help you find images and audiovisual content.
Copyright law allows the re-use of images from books for educational purposes, and for quotation and criticism / review purposes (such as in essays, dissertations, theses, and Powerpoint presentations), if they were created by the author/s of the book or article. You would need to be mindful of Fair Dealing and make sure that you don't use several images from the same published source. See section on the left 'Fair Dealing' and copying legally for more information.
If the images, diagrams or illustrations were created by an artist, a photographer, or another third-party other than the author/s, and not covered under a suitable licence for your re-use, then you will need to request copyright permission. The author prior to having their work published should have sought copyright permission from the copyright holder and referenced the source. This will enable you to contact the creator.
If the article or book is available Open Access and licenced under a Creative Commons Licence, make sure to check that the image you want to use is also licenced under a CC Licence suitable for your reuse. The author/s should make it clear if any third-party content is still subject to copyright or has a more restrictive CC Licence than the article / book itself.
Creative Commons is a way of licensing images for free re-use depending on the terms of the licence. All CC licenced images require attribution, notification of which licence was used with a link to the licence deed and the artwork. See section on the left Referencing CC licenced material for more details.
Permission is always necessary. Newspapers, magazines or journals do not necessarily own the copyright to any of the photographs or artwork. The copyright holder might be the photographer, artist, publisher or a stock image library such as Ghetty Images or Shutterstock.
DO NOT reproduce these images without written copyright permission. The risk of potential copyright infringement would be very high.
Artworks protected by copyright
DO NOT reproduce complete images of modern artworks that are still in copyright. This would be a high risk of copyright infringement. You will always need to obtain permission of the copyright owner in order to take a photograph of a copyrighted work, unless the work is a sculpture or other 3D piece of artwork on public display. A photograph is considered a derivative work, and copyright law solely invests the right to create derivate works in the copyright owner.
Instead link to a legitimate online photograph or explain where the image is from.
Artworks no longer protected by copyright
If from a museum or gallery website the images must be credited. Guidance on how to do this will usually be given on the website.
If taken by a photographer, the image must be credited, and the name of the artwork and the location provided.
If taken by yourself, no photography credit is necessary but useful for the viewer. You must observe the rules of the museum/gallery regarding photography, many galleries and museums have terms of entry that prohibit or restrict photography of exhibits. You should provide the name and location of the artwork, for the benefit of your audience.
Use a small reproduction of the image. This should decrease the risk of copyright infringement.
Check if the rightsholder can be traced. See the Orphan Works diligent search guidance on the IPO website. If successful, you can contact them to request permission. If you cannot trace the rightsholder but you want to use the image, there may be some risk of copyright infringement. Keep evidence of your search to mitigate against the risk. You can purchase an Orphan Works licence from the UK government; this will indemnify you against any risk.
Images protected by copyright
Images no longer protected by copyright
