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Images and Copyright

trees and blue sky

Citing an image is not a replacement for copyright permission.

Images found on the Internet, including those on Google Images and other image search engines, are protected by copyright. Other digital images found offline are also subject to copyright.  Please review the information below for guidelines on using images for educational purposes.

(Image by Conestoga Library Staff)

Educational Use of Images from the Internet

Section 30.04 of the Copyright Act allows faculty, staff and students of an educational institution to save, download and share Publicly Available Material (PAM) from the Internet, including images.

Publicly available Internet material:

  • must be posted by the content creator or copyright owner
  • must not contain any technological protection measures (TPMs), such as a password, digital lock, encryption system, or similar technology designed to limit access
  • must not contain a clearly visible notice that prohibits educational use

Any Internet materials that are used must be properly cited.

Reproductions of Artistic Works from Print-based Published Works

Reproductions of Artistic Works from Print-based Published Works

The Fair Dealing Policy allows short excerpts of copyright-protected works to be copied, printed and scanned for educational purposes. In the case of artistic works from a print source, a short excerpt would be defined as one artistic work from a compilation.

When copying or communicating short excerpts from a copyright-protected work under this Fair Dealing Policy, the source must be cited and, if given in the source, the name of the author or creator of the work should be provided.

Copying multiple short excerpts from the same copyright-protected work is prohibited.

Online Image Sources

Online Image Sources

Please explore the list below for more sources of images on the Internet. Remember to always cite/reference the images you use.

When using images, even for educational purposes, it's crucial to consider the source to ensure compliance with copyright laws and respect for the original creator's ownership rights.

Images from Library Databases

The Library provides the following rights-cleared image databases. Always cite the source of images you use.