Image Resources
In general, images in licensed digital collections and databases accessible through Princeton University Library and other departments can be used for classroom/educational purposes but may not be used in publications or for any commercial purpose. If in doubt, look for a link to “terms of use,” “license terms,” or something similar. Many libraries, museums and cultural institutions also make images of their collections available for classroom use.
For Teaching
In general, images in licensed digital collections and databases accessible through Princeton University Library and other departments can be used for classroom/educational purposes but may not be used in publications or for any commercial purpose. If in doubt, look for a link to “terms of use,” “license terms,” or something similar. Many libraries, museums and cultural institutions also make images of their collections available for classroom use. Below are some of the best resources for images, licensed by the University for teaching and classroom use.
The ArtStor Digital Library provides over 1.8 million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and science for teaching and research.
Offers over 640,000 digital images of art, history and culture from global museums, galleries, private collections and contemporary artists all copyright cleared for educational use.
Over two million images of objects, events, places, works of art, sports, and scientific pursuits, from dozens of collections such as Getty Images and the National Geographic Society. Each image includes full citation and copyright information. Rights have been cleared for education use.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Images for educational or research purposes, including illustration, explanation, example, comment, criticism, teaching, or analysis.
Ancient Greek materials including primary and secondary texts, site plans, digital images, and maps.
For Publication and Public Use
There are many sources for images for publication and public uses, although only some of them will provide images for free. In many cases, there will be a fee for use of the image and for a high-quality digital file for reproduction.
MorgueFile
High quality professional photos available free for any use except stand alone use (you can't take the photo and try to sell it by itself). Most of the photographers contributing to MorgueFile do not require attribution.
Offers digital reproductions of predominantly public domain works. Europeana has Usage Guidelines and requests that you credit the author and otherwise use the work appropriately.
Digital Public Library of America
The DPLA offers a variety of public domain content as well as content licensed under Creative Commons license, CC BY 3.0 License.
High quality images may be licensed from the sources below, although in many cases there will be a fee for the use of the image and\or a fee for a digital file for reproduction.
More Faculty Resources
- Princeton University Library Reserve Guidelines for Faculty
- Dean of the Faculty Open Access Resources for Faculty and Academic Professionals
Copyright resources at other universities
- Columbia University Copyright Advisory Services
- Stanford University Library Copyright and Fair Use site
- University of Texas Libraries Copyright Crash Course
- Yale University Library Copyright Guidance