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What am I allowed to do with a Creative Commons (CC) licensed image that I found?
You may come across many images and other works (including research articles, theses, books, presentation slides and websites) that are available under a Creative Commons (CC) licence. Creative Commons licences permit you to reuse the licensed work provided you keep within the licence terms.
If you found an image licensed under Creative Commons, what you may do with it depends on the specific licence (e.g. CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND etc.).
Attribution
All CC licences require you to give credit ('attribution') to the author of the work you are using, and provide a link to the licence. Please see attribution guidelines.
What you can do with a CC-licensed work
You are free to copy and share the work in any medium or format.
Depending on the licence, additional terms may apply.
Non-commercial licences (licences that include the term 'NC') restrict commercial reuse. 'Commercial' is defined as 'primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation'. See more on the interpretation of 'commercial'.
Licences that include the No-derivatives (ND) term: you may copy and share the material, but not 'remix, transform or adapt' it. See guidance on what constitutes an adaptation. If derivatives are allowed, you must indicate that changes were made.
Where derivatives are permitted, some licences include the Share Alike (SA) term. This means that you must share your adaptations under the same licence or under a compatible licence.
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