How Kids Can Get Free Creative Commons Images for Their Blogs
Using images from Creative Commons is important; unless you want to get in big big trouble. When kids write a blog, they can’t just take a picture off of the internet and use it on their blogs. They must either take the photos themselves, or use creative commons images. So, where can you get these free to use images from? Let’s check!
Creative Commons Website
The Creative Commons website has an amazing search function on it. You can search a term across several different search engines. I recommend selecting Google, then checking out the pictures that pop up. I recommend using photos that are hosted by Wikipedia, Pixabay, or Flickr. Be careful with Flickr images though! All Flickr images need to have citations under them. You can write what every caption you’d like, then follow it with “Photo credit: [USERNAME] hosted on Flickr.” You then need to link to the person’s photo in that line of text.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia commons is a great source for photos. Many of the photos hosted here are used in Wikipedia articles on different subjects. They are then made available to the public for creative commons use. Some will need an attribution if you are going to use them. This is the same as what we just described for Flickr photos, so apply the same idea here. All of the information you need will be available on the photo’s file page on Wikipedia.
Pixabay
Pixabay is one of my personal favorites for free to use images. There are millions of gorgeous, professional photos just waiting to be discovered and used on Pixabay. If you go straight to the website, you can easily do a search to find the photos that you need. It also has photos sponsored by Shutterstock, which have watermarks on them. Don’t try to use any of those images, or you might get in trouble. It’s just best to avoid them. Shutterstock photos must be paid for before use, and it can get very expensive to use.
Why Should You Use Legally Free to Share Images?
Using images that are not legally able to be shared can get someone in big, big trouble. Even if your blog doesn’t even get many visitors or make any money, they could still come after you for royalties on the image. Chances are, no one wants to have to go to court because of a silly little picture; so to stay in a safe place, don’t use images that are not free for reuse, commercial reuse, and modification. If you can, use images that do not require attribution; however, many do. The best place for completely free pictures will most definitely be Pixabay.
