Copyright Information: Public Domain & Creative Commons

The public domain refers to works without copyright protection and therewith no restrictions on the use of them and includes:

• Works that are not copyrightable
  • Ideas
  • Data/facts
• Works of the US federal government (with exceptions) (Section 105)
• Works placed in PD by creators under Creative Commons license of CC0 
• Works whose copyright has expired
  • View more information on copyright duration

Keep in mind, we are assuming works in the US and for the most part printed.

Tip: Works prior to 1924 are typically public domain. 

Royalty-free works are still protected by copyright law, but the copyright owner of a royalty-free work is permitting certain uses of the work without collecting financial royalties for the use. The owner may impose certain restrictions on the use of the work.

Licensed works are similar to royalty-free works but often require financial payment and certain restrictions based on the license agreement the user  must consent to for use..

Creative Commons (CC) licenses give copyright holders the ability to pick how they would allow others to use their work and provide an easier means for others to use their work. 

Creative Commons are typically one or a combination of the following:

• Attribution (BY) - for reuse with attribution/credit to the creator
• Share-a-like (SA) - for reuse & modification
• Non-commercial (NC) - for non-commercial use
• No derivative (ND) - for reuse without modification

Licenses can be mixed and matched as desired. One exception: CC-ND and CC-SA can't be combined.

For images of these licenses and others, view these Creative Commons licenses.