Need royalty-free resources for a project? You can find the guidelines on Creative Commons and beneficial links to open-source materials in this libguide.
Using Copyright-free Images, Videos, and Audio
Creative Commons (CC) is an internationally active non-profit organization that provides free licenses for creators to use when making their work available to the public. These licenses help the creator to give permission for others to use the work in advance under certain conditions.
Every time a work is created, such as when a journal article is written or a photograph is taken, that work is automatically protected by copyright. Copyright protection prevents others from using the work in certain ways, such as copying the work or putting the work online. Source
Before using a work that you find on a website, please carefully read any “About Us,” “Frequently Asked Questions,” or “Terms and Conditions.”
Some sites may:
require you to publish an acknowledgment/attribution;
provide the wording required for the acknowledgment;
require you to accept cookies;
require you to register;
offer photos for purchase, often highlighted at the top of the page;
return to default mode (e.g., images that are not public domain or Creative Commons) after each search; or
automatically generate incorrect attributions. (Confirm before using!).
Also, be sure to always check the copyright! You may be infringing copyright laws if you download or copy and paste photos from the internet.
Creative Commons (CC) search - Has a dedicated search interface for free content in the public domain and under CC licenses
Unsplash - Beautiful, high-resolution, professional-quality photos. Unsplash uses its own very simple license
Freepik -
Pixabay - Find and share images free of copyrights. All pictures are published under Creative Commons public domain (CC0)
Wikimedia Commons - A repository of educational media content such as images, sounds, and video clips, that are in the public domain and freely-licensed
Flickr Creative Commons - An excellent resource for finding images licensed under Creative Commons
Content Directories — Extensive list of directories of Creative Commons-licensed materials (audio, video, image, text
Visual Hunt - Free stock photos, mostly with CC0 licenses (do whatever you want) as well as Creative Commons and Public Domain photos from sources like Flickr. Attribution is built in so you can quickly use them on a website.
XKCD Webcomic - Science-oriented line-drawing comics free to copy and share using Creative Commons NonCommercial licensing.
FreeImages - Find and download graphic resources for free, for personal or commercial use, with no attribution required.
The Public Domain Project - Experience Pond5 for free through a collection of complimentary HD & 4K stock footage videos, photos, and music tracks to inspire your audience.
Pexels videos - Videos on Pexels are free to use. Giving credit to the photographer or Pexels is not necessary but always appreciated.
Creative Commons on Vimeo - Here’s where you can browse all the videos on Vimeo that have a Creative Commons license applied to them.
Epidemic Sound - Get unlimited access to music and sound effects catalog for your videos, streams, and podcasts. The license comes with all necessary rights included.
Free Music Archive - Royalty-free music. Safe to use in all kinds of media
Getty Images Royalty-free music - Getty Images partnered with Epidemic Sound to provide the best possible experience by combining the industry-leading plans with their world-class library of royalty-free music, sound effects, and audio clips
Netlabels - This collection hosts complete, freely downloadable/streamable, often Creative Commons-licensed catalogs of 'virtual record labels'.
Purple Planet Music - Purple Planet Music is a collection of music written and performed by Chris Martyn and Geoff Harvey. You are welcome to use the pieces for free, simply credit the source.