Creative Commons
- Overview
- Creative Commons Licenses
- Licensing Your Work
- Searching for Licensed Works
- Providing Attribution
- Resources
Copyright Questions
The University of Michigan Library Copyright Office provides help with copyright questions for University of Michigan faculty, staff and students.
Email copyright@umich.edu with questions or visit our website for more information.
Legal Advice
The information presented here is intended for informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice. If you have specific legal questions pertaining to the University of Michigan, please contact the Office of the General Counsel.
If you require legal advice in your personal capacity, the lawyer referral services operated by the Washtenaw County Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan may be helpful to you.
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.
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CC SearchCC Search enables users to search across multiple platforms for content licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses.
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Google: Find Free-to-Use ImagesThis 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
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EuropeanaEuropeana is a collection of digitized materials from galleries, libraries, archives, and museums in Europe. Users can limit their searches by license.
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Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia 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
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MERLOTMERLOT 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.
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OpenDOAR Repository Content SearchOpenDOAR 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.
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FlickrFlickr 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.
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PixabayPixabay is an online image-sharing service that focuses entirely on images dedicated to the public domain under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0).
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The Noun ProjectThe 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
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ccMixterccMixter 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.
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Community AudioCommunity 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.
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JamendoJamendo is a music streaming and hosting service. It features many albums and tracks that are licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses.
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SoundCloudSoundCloud 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
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YouTubeYouTube 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.
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VimeoVimeo 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.