{"id":4765,"date":"2018-08-21T11:07:44","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T14:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresourcesdev-v4\/?page_id=4765"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:07:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T17:37:54","slug":"finding-free-copyright-material","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/finding-free-copyright-material\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Free Copyrighted Material for Your Course"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where can I find learning objects and other free resources for my course?<\/h2>\n<p>Consider what teaching and learning resources are currently available (published texts, online or print journal articles, Internet sites, photographs, charts, graphics, video\/audio clips and animations) and how they will be used. By searching for and selecting resources early in the design process, copyrighted resources can be identified and the process of obtaining permission can begin.<\/p>\n<p>Also, choose the multimedia resources that will need to be developed to enhance learning. The instructional designer will collaborate with you to storyboard the content for these multimedia resources.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/linney.mun.ca\/?r=36805&amp;k=a239f9e0ba\" target=\"_blank\">How to Find Free Copyright Material<\/a>&nbsp;is a video tutorial about how to find material on the internet that is open for reuse. Former Memorial University Copyright Officer Nancy Simmons describes how to effectively use search tools through Google and the Creative Commons websites to search for different kinds of material based on their rights, whether they are public domain, or have licenses attached that allow users to reuse or even modify the work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:20px\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<style>\n       .errordiv { padding:10px; margin:10px; border: 1px solid #555555;color: #000000;background-color: #f8f8f8; width:500px; }#advanced_iframe {visibility:visible;opacity:1;vertical-align:top;}.ai-info-bottom-iframe { position: fixed; z-index: 10000; bottom:0; left: 0; margin: 0px; text-align: center; width: 100%; background-color: #ff9999; padding-left: 5px;padding-bottom: 5px; border-top: 1px solid #aaa } a.ai-bold {font-weight: bold;}#ai-layer-div-advanced_iframe p {height:100%;margin:0;padding:0}<\/style>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var ai_iframe_width_advanced_iframe = 0;var ai_iframe_height_advanced_iframe = 0;function aiReceiveMessageadvanced_iframe(event) {  aiProcessMessage(event,\"advanced_iframe\", \"true\",\"\",\"false\",\"false\");}if (window.addEventListener) {  window.addEventListener(\"message\", aiReceiveMessageadvanced_iframe);} else if (el.attachEvent)  {  el.attachEvent(\"message\", aiReceiveMessageadvanced_iframe);}var aiOnloadScrollTop=\"true\";var aiShowDebug=false;\n\t\tif (typeof aiReadyCallbacks === 'undefined') {\n\t\t\tvar aiReadyCallbacks = [];\n\t\t} else if (!(aiReadyCallbacks instanceof Array)) {\n\t\t\tvar aiReadyCallbacks = [];\n\t\t}    function aiShowIframeId(id_iframe) { jQuery(\"#\"+id_iframe).css(\"visibility\", \"visible\");    }    function aiResizeIframeHeight(height) { aiResizeIframeHeight(height,advanced_iframe); }    function aiResizeIframeHeightId(height,width,id) {aiResizeIframeHeightById(id,height);}<\/script><iframe id=\"advanced_iframe\"  name=\"advanced_iframe\"  src=\"https:\/\/streaming.citl.mun.ca\/play\/courses.php?id=026r74IIt85JXvAIy8InIy%2BH%2BuA9KfSdskGKdsNWFj1M5u8DwbxXYXTDoXvTRa4h0hBYqAt6jRaKuMJhNa5Giq22sKdbmWwlLXZ4qKdloNjREU5X8zNdTMmPzZ6yp%2BvYHHSXE9XAVOeWwi1GpBYR2g%3D%3D\"  width=\"100%\"  height=\"600\"  scrolling=\"no\"  frameborder=\"0\"  border=\"0\"  allowtransparency=\"true\"  loading=\"lazy\"  style=\";border-width: 0px;;border: none;;width:100%;;height:600px;\"  allowfullscreen ><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var ifrm_advanced_iframe = document.getElementById(\"advanced_iframe\");var hiddenTabsDoneadvanced_iframe = false;\nfunction resizeCallbackadvanced_iframe() {}<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"display:block !important; visibility:visible !important;margin: -18px 14px 0 0;padding-left: 3px;padding-top:3px;background: white; overflow: hidden; position: relative; line-height:15px;width: fit-content;\"><small style=\"display:block !important;visibility:visible !important\">powered by Advanced iFrame<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:20px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Please note that, in 2020, Memorial University Libraries assumed responsibility for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.library.mun.ca\/usingthelibraries\/copyrighthelp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">University-wide copyright support<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Find the Source of an Image<\/h2>\n<p>Have you already found an image but can\u2019t remember where you got it from, or perhaps forgot to check if it\u2019s open to use at all? Here is a video tutorial called <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/linney.mun.ca\/?r=36806\" target=\"_blank\">How to Find the Source of an Image<\/a>, which covers how to search using Google Images in a reverse style search. With this method, you just upload the image to the Google Images website, and Google finds all the sites that use that image, or similar images.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:20px\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<style>\n       .errordiv { padding:10px; margin:10px; border: 1px solid #555555;color: #000000;background-color: #f8f8f8; width:500px; }#advanced_iframe_2 {visibility:visible;opacity:1;vertical-align:top;}.ai-info-bottom-iframe { position: fixed; z-index: 10000; bottom:0; left: 0; margin: 0px; text-align: center; width: 100%; background-color: #ff9999; padding-left: 5px;padding-bottom: 5px; border-top: 1px solid #aaa } a.ai-bold {font-weight: bold;}#ai-layer-div-advanced_iframe_2 p {height:100%;margin:0;padding:0}<\/style>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var ai_iframe_width_advanced_iframe_2 = 0;var ai_iframe_height_advanced_iframe_2 = 0;function aiReceiveMessageadvanced_iframe_2(event) {  aiProcessMessage(event,\"advanced_iframe_2\", \"true\",\"\",\"false\",\"false\");}if (window.addEventListener) {  window.addEventListener(\"message\", aiReceiveMessageadvanced_iframe_2);} else if (el.attachEvent)  {  el.attachEvent(\"message\", aiReceiveMessageadvanced_iframe_2);}var aiOnloadScrollTop=\"true\";var aiShowDebug=false;\n\t\tif (typeof aiReadyCallbacks === 'undefined') {\n\t\t\tvar aiReadyCallbacks = [];\n\t\t} else if (!(aiReadyCallbacks instanceof Array)) {\n\t\t\tvar aiReadyCallbacks = [];\n\t\t}    function aiShowIframeId(id_iframe) { jQuery(\"#\"+id_iframe).css(\"visibility\", \"visible\");    }    function aiResizeIframeHeight(height) { aiResizeIframeHeight(height,advanced_iframe_2); }    function aiResizeIframeHeightId(height,width,id) {aiResizeIframeHeightById(id,height);}<\/script><iframe id=\"advanced_iframe_2\"  name=\"advanced_iframe_2\"  src=\"https:\/\/streaming.citl.mun.ca\/play\/courses.php?id=026r74IIt85JXvAIy8InIwXif6sguJT%2B6CO9WMK3M0EUi6zEJmGRI%2FEwuvcVsD2LLaq9lzaloaFs1iQYGXFYib9GH50Me2eoqFo9DSdVU9V82cWdfji2llgmACgnPlH0qyC%2B82GujPB8vsbpzKGxdg%3D%3D\"  width=\"100%\"  height=\"600\"  scrolling=\"no\"  frameborder=\"0\"  border=\"0\"  allowtransparency=\"true\"  loading=\"lazy\"  style=\";border-width: 0px;;border: none;;width:100%;;height:600px;\"  allowfullscreen ><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var ifrm_advanced_iframe_2 = document.getElementById(\"advanced_iframe_2\");var hiddenTabsDoneadvanced_iframe_2 = false;\nfunction resizeCallbackadvanced_iframe_2() {}<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"display:block !important; visibility:visible !important;margin: -18px 14px 0 0;padding-left: 3px;padding-top:3px;background: white; overflow: hidden; position: relative; line-height:15px;width: fit-content;\"><small style=\"display:block !important;visibility:visible !important\">powered by Advanced iFrame<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:20px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Find Copyright-Free or <span title=\"Creative Commons\">CC<\/span> Licensed Sites for Resources<\/h2>\n<p>The Creative Commons search allows you to search Google, Yahoo, Flickr and other sites for material that is licensed under the Creative Commons \u2014 which usually means you can use it without charge in a noncommercial context. To find these materials for reuse you can use the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/openverse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/openverse\/\">Creative Commons Search<\/a>. Alternatively, you could explore other repositories of media. Here are some examples.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Free Images<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/guides.library.mun.ca\/images\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Public Domain and Creative Commons Images Guide<\/a> from Memorial University Libraries<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackillustrations.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Black Illustrations<\/a> \u2014 Beautiful illustrations of Black people for your next digital project<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.disabilityimages.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Disability Images<\/a> \u2014 a collection of positive images of authentic people with real disabilities<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flaticon.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Flat Icon<\/a> \u2014 free icons and stickers for your projects (.png file types are free)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/photos\/education?license=rf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Getty Education Image Gallery<\/a> \u2014 Free images from the Getty collection<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imageafter.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Image*After<\/a> \u2014 large, free photo collection, with images free for any use<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imagesofempowerment.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Images of Empowerment<\/a> \u2014 a free library of images celebrating women\u2019s lives and their work from around the world.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.morguefile.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Morgue File<\/a> \u2014 a community-based free photo site with a collection of 400,000 images<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/Main_Page\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \u2014 archive of free multimedia content submitted by Wikipedia users<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Potentially Free Images<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/creativecommons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Flickr Creative Commons<\/a> \u2014 an index of all Flickr images for which the owner has specified a Creative Commons license (which usually means you can use it)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/images.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Images<\/a> \u2014 (use the \u2018usage rights\u2019 filter)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Library of Congress Prints &amp; Photographs<\/a> \u2014 (not all are copyright-free)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Videos<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.openeducationeuropa.eu\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Global Learning Objects Brokered Exchange<\/a> \u2014 A community for all those involved or interested in digital, open and innovative education.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/eduatgoogle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google for Education YouTube Channel<\/a> \u2014 Google for Education is about learning for everyone, anywhere.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Khan Academy<\/a> \u2014 provides a world-class education for anyone, anywhere.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/linney.mun.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Linney<\/a> \u2014 learning object repository supported by Memorial University that aims to promote an atmosphere of sharing where learning objects can be searched, reused, repurposed, and contributed.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/odyssey.lib.vt.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Odyssey: VirginiaTech University Libraries<\/a> \u2014 Odyssey is a learning objects repository created and maintained by the University Libraries at Virginia Tech.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ed.ted.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TedEd<\/a> \u2014 TED-Ed is TED\u2019s youth and education initiative. TED-Ed\u2019s mission is to spark and celebrate the ideas of teachers and students around the world.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ted.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TedTalks<\/a> \u2014 a non-profit organization devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisc-online.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wisc-Online<\/a> \u2014 digital library of objects has been developed primarily by faculty from the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/education\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube #Education<\/a> \u2014 a YouTube channel featuring some of YouTube\u2019s most popular educational videos.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/teachers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube Teachers\u2019 Channel<\/a> \u2014 created to help teachers leverage video to educate, engage and inspire their students.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more media ideas, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qualitymatters.org\/qa-resources\/resource-center\/articles-resources\/using-visuals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Quality Matters<\/a> for a comprehensive inventory of sources for visuals, design tools, and accessibility tools and guidelines.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>CourseArc. (2021, November). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coursearc.com\/resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Resources for finding and Creating Visuals for Online Course Design<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Page last updated on June 7, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Where can I find learning objects and other free resources for my course?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[355,363],"tags":[239,253,293,263],"collection":[409],"class_list":["post-4765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-course-design","category-finding-resources","tag-intellectual-property","tag-media","tag-oer","tag-technology","collection-open-education"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jane Costello","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/author\/jcostello\/"},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7y0Lp-1eR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4765"}],"version-history":[{"count":56,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22323,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4765\/revisions\/22323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4765"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=4765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}