Subject Guides: Copyright: NIC Library: Creative Commons

Creative Commons

A Creative Commons license allows authors to waive some or all of their copyrights, and allows users to use, distribute, and sometimes alter or adapt work without permission. There are a number of different creative commons licenses available. If you wish to use a work that has a creative commons license, make sure to read the terms of the license carefully to ensure your use is appropriate.

How To Attribute Creative Commons Photos by Foter is licenced under a CC BY-SA 3.0 License

Copyright Image Resources

Image Resources & Attribution

The following resources will assist you in using images in your reports, presentations and learning tools while complying with Canadian Copyright Law. Please note that it is the individual’s responsibility to clarify each collection’s terms of use.

While the Copyright Act requires only the creator and source of the image to be cited, enough information should be available so that that it is easy for the reader to locate the source of the image as well as the image itself. There are also specific citation styles that you may be asked to follow (APA, MLA, and Chicago).

The following are examples of common citation styles that meet basic Copyright Act requirements.

Creative Commons-Licensed Images

All CC attributions should have the same basic information:

title of image
creator name
source of the image (usually in the form of a URL to image source page)
any copyright information included with image (such as a watermark)
CC license information (including link back to CC documentation page if possible)

Print and Electronic Publications

Must include:

name of the creator
title of the work (if possible)
source of the image

For more in-depth information and examples of image citation, see the University of British Columbia's Image Citation Guide, on which the above information is based.