Research Guides: Creative Commons: Searching for Licensed Works

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Searching for Licensed Works

When works are marked with code generated by the Creative Commons License Chooser, that mark is machine readable. A number of search tools allow users to limit their search by license.

CC Search
CC Search enables users to search across multiple platforms for content licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses.
Google: Find Free-to-Use Images
This page explains how to use Google's search engines to find images, text, and videos that are licensed under Creative Commons licenses.

Sources of Licensed Works

All of the following platforms host materials that have been licensed under Creative Commons licenses or are in the public domain. They allow users to search for works by license. Most of the platforms also host materials that have not been licensed under any open license.

Multimedia

Europeana
Europeana is a collection of digitized materials from galleries, libraries, archives, and museums in Europe. Users can limit their searches by license.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is a collection of images, sounds, and other materials that are either licensed under an open content license or in the public domain.

Course Materials

MERLOT
MERLOT is a collection of course materials and learning aids on many different subjects. The MERLOT advanced search allows users to search by terms of Creative Commons licenses.
OpenDOAR Repository Content Search
OpenDOAR is a directory of open access repositories. Its repository content search allows users to search across all listed repositories. Much of the content searched is licensed under a Creative Commons license or another public license.

Images

The sites below offer images that are licensed for reuse or are in the public domain. The Images research guide provides a more comprehensive list of such sites.

Flickr
Flickr is an online image-sharing service. Users who upload to the site can license their images under one of the Creative Commons licenses, and Flickr allows users to search through these images based on the licenses applied to them. Note that many photographs on Flickr are under copyright and have not been licensed under any open license.
Pixabay
Pixabay is an online image-sharing service that focuses entirely on images dedicated to the public domain under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0).
The Noun Project
The Noun Project hosts a collection of black-and-white icons licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses or the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication. Downloading these icons requires users to register for an account with the site.

Sound Recordings

ccMixter
ccMixter is a “community music remixing site featuring remixes and samples licensed under Creative Commons licenses.” It allows users to listen to, sample, and remix audio. Users can also post their remixes on the site.
Community Audio
Community Audio is a service of the Internet Archive. Its website has thousands of user-contributed recordings that are licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses.
Jamendo
Jamendo is a music streaming and hosting service. It features many albums and tracks that are licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a social sound-sharing site which allows users to create and post their own audio files. Some files are licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses.

Audiovisual Works

YouTube
YouTube has a large collection of videos licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses or the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication. Note that many videos on YouTube are under copyright and have not been licensed under any open license.
Vimeo
Vimeo has a large collection of videos licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses or the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication. Note that many videos on Vimeo are under copyright and have not been licensed under any open license.