Finding free content

Whether you are describing someone else’s work within your dissertation, looking for music to add to your video or searching for a photo to incorporate in a web page, it is important that you have permission to use other people’s work. Material including text, photos, video clips and music must have been accessed legally. 

Unfortunately it is all too easy to find content that has been illegally made available online. Use of such material may be unlawful, so make sure you use reputable sites that provide access to resources in a legal way.

Here are some suggested sites that will help you to find free content that you can reuse.

General

• Creative Commons Search
  Search for Creative Commons licensed content across a number of sites. You should always verify that any work you find is actually under a CC licence.
• Google Advanced Search
  Use the ‘usage rights’ section to narrow your results by searching for content that you are free to use, share or modify.
• Wikimedia Commons
  A media file repository of Public Domain (out of copyright) and Creative Commons licensedl media content, including images, sound and video clips.
• OER Commons
  A public digital library of open educational resources.
• Europeana
  Discover inspiring cultural heritage from European museums, galleries, libraries and archives.

Images

• Artstor
  Image resource for education and scholarly use.
• Flickr
  A photo community site that allows you to search for images with a Creative Commons licence. If you find a photo you want to use, make sure you have permission and always provide a credit.
• Freeimages
  A variety of images that are licensed, with some exceptions, for you to use on websites, blog posts, social media, printed materials etc.
• Gratisography
  High resolution free images with an emphasis on the quirky and whimsical.
• Pexels
  More public domain images available under a CC0 licence.
• Pixabay
  Images that you can copy, modify, distribute, and use, even for commercial purposes, without asking for permission or giving credits to the artist.
• StockSnap
  All the photos uploaded here are released under a CC0 - "No Rights Reserved" licence and therefore do not require attribution.
• Unsplash
  Images that you can copy, modify, distribute, and use, even for commercial purposes, without asking for permission or giving credits to the artist.
• VADS: the online resource for visual arts
  Digital images available for use in learning, teaching and research in the UK.

Music

• Free Music Archive
  A library of music, most of which is licensed under Creative Commons. A useful source of backing tracks for video projects.
• Bensound
  Free music to use in your multimedia project (online videos, websites, animations, etc.). All you have to do is credit Bensound.com.

Video and motion graphics

• Videvo
  An extensive collection of free music, sound effects, stock video clips and motion graphics.
• Mazwai
  Free stock footage and moving images, available under either a CC-BY 3.0 licence or Mazwai's own licence.

Icons

• The Noun Project
  A collection of symbols and icons with many available under a Creative Commons Licence.