We hear from people every day who'd like to understand how to use free pictures from Ookaboo. Pictures from Ookaboo can be used freely, but you must you them consistently with the law -- this page explains how to do so.

Copyright

Ookaboo does not hold the copyright for images in Ookaboo On an image page, like this you will find a link towards the person who does hold the copyright. We use these images under the public domain or Creative Commons and you can do so as well. If you'd like to use the image in some other manner, you can contact the copyright holder and negotiate your own terms.

Licenses

Images in Ookaboo are under a short list of licenses:

public domain: in most jurisdictions, there are some images that belong to no copyright holder. In the United States, for instance, images published prior to 1923 are in the public domain. Pictures made by U.S. government employees are also in the public domain. You can do what you like with a public domain image, but attributing the source protects your interests and the interests of your audience.

cc0: By definition, it is not possible for a person to put a work into the public domain. The cc0 license was created to simulate a public domain license. We think cc0 is slightly questionable, and advise that you treat cc0 images the same as cc-by images, simply mentioning that the image is cc0 instead of cc-by. (official summary of the cc0/1.0 license)

cc-by: You can use a cc-by image for any purpose whatsoever. so long as you give credit, or attribution, to the creator. We didn't create the image, but we provide a link towards the person who did. Attribution is typically a statement like "This image is (C) CC-BY by John Doe." (official summary of the cc-by/3.0 license)

cc-by-sa: A cc-by-sa image requires attribution, like a cc-by image. SA stands for "share-alike", which means that any derived work of this image must also be published under a cc-by-sa. "Derived work" means something technical: if you modify the image, for instance to crop it in Photoshop, the modified image is a derived work. However, a book,
brochure or web site is not considered a derived work. You can use modified images in a larger project so long as you grant others the right to use those modified images freely. (official summary of the cc-by-sa/3.0 license.)

cc-by-nd: ND means "no derivatives". You are allowed to incorporate this image in a larger work (like a book or a web site) but you are not allowed to make changes to it. (official summary of the cc-by-sa/3.0 license.)

Linking To Ookaboo

If you use an image on the web, we request that you make an HTML link to the picture page's on Ookaboo. This link will help your users understand the origin of the image, and helps other web users to find relevant images on Ookaboo.

We allow you use images directly from our server (hotlinking) by simply putting our image URL in your <IMG SRC="..."&gt. If you hotlink our images, we require that you provide a &ltA HREF="..."&gt hyperlink to Ookaboo on the same page. We're happy to pay for the bandwidth to serve the image, but we need to get credit in return. We can detect hotlinking and reserve the right to make the image disappear for you if you hotlink us without a hyperlink.

Accuracy of License and Attribution Information

Ookaboo is highly accurate, but errors will affect any collection that includes a million or more images. Despite our efforts, you may find that some images have inaccurate information about the image creator and the license of the image.

The most common problem is that users misrepresent the copyright status of images that they upload to sites like Flickr and Wikimedia Commons. By doing so, they do grave harm to the Creative Commons community. Therefore, we'd like to enlist your help to undo the damage that they do.

When you use an image, you should follow the "original source" link and make sure the story makes sense. It's quite likely that a person would upload a bunch of photos that they took at an awards ceremony, but I'd be suspicious of a person who uploaded a large number of studio photographs of random celebrities. If you suspect a problem with an image, report it to us, and we'll take action to remove it and other similar images.

I've talked to representatives of large publishers who get a signed release from the creator of Creative Commons photographs that they use. This is not necessary for most image users, but this paperwork will minimize any possible liabilities. Note that you can also contact the creator to negotiate the right to use an image under different terms.

Other issues

People other than the photographer may have a problem with your use of an image.

One issue is that people who are pictured in an image have rights. If a person who is not a public figure is identifiable in an image, they may object to your use of an image.

In 2007, a person who appeared in a Creative Commons image used in a Virgin Mobile advertisement filed a lawsuit against the telecom carrier and Creative Commons. In 2009, this case was dismissed by the Texas district court. This legal risk is clearly small, but real.

Large media organizations regularly obtain permission forms from any people who are depicted in images that they use. This practice minimizes any risk you may entail.

Copyright and trademark law may apply to objects inside the frame of an image. For instance, a person might take a picture of a college dorm room that has a Metallica poster in it. The legal status of such an image depends on how it is used. Such a photograph can be used for many purposes, but if you use a blow-up of this photograph to make a counterfeit Metallica poster, this is obviously against the law.

The world is divided into hundreds of national legal jursidictions, and Creative Commons has produced licenses that are tailored to different countries with different legal systems. Just as computer programs are improved and released in different versions, Creative Commons has issued multiple versions of the licenses. This page summarizes the use of Creative Commons images, but there are many more details that you can learn from the Creative Commons website.

Disclaimer

Millions of people have used Creative Commons and public domain images without legal problems. You have the responsibility to confirm the legal status of any images that you use; we disclaim any responsibility for liabilities that may occur from your use of an image.