Skip to Main Content

Using Images in Teaching, Research and Publication

A guide to resources for the legal and ethical use of images in teaching and publications at the University

Image sources: Princeton's museum and library collections

Images sources: Princeton's licensed databases

`In general, images in licensed digital collections and databases accessible through Princeton University Library and other departments can be used for classroom/educational purposes but may not be used in publications or for any commercial purpose. If in doubt, look for a link to “terms of use,” “license terms,” or something similar.

Looking for the license terms?

AP Images: http://classic.apimages.com/legal/Termsofuse.aspx and http://classic.apimages.com/uns/splash/?url=legal

Early English Books Online (ProQuest): http://eebo.chadwyck.com/help/faqs.htm#5 Must I obtain permission to reproduce images from EEBO? How?

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (Gale CENGAGE) and other Gale collections: Terms of Use http://www.gale.cengage.com/epcopyright/index.htm#terms – “personal, non-commercial, educational purposes only”

Early European Books (ProQuest):  http://eeb.chadwyck.com/info/reproduction.do “Reproduction of images from Early European Books”

ProQuest Historical Newspapers “for educational or research purposes, including illustration, explanation, example, comment, criticism, teaching, or analysis.” http://search.proquest.com/cv_659841/info/termsandconditions?accountid=13314

Images sources: museums & cultural institutions

Many libraries, museums and cultural institutions make images of their collections freely available for classroom use, but charge for high-quality images for publication.

David Rumsey Map Collection http://www.davidrumsey.com/ -- See http://www.davidrumsey.com/about -- requires permission for commercial use of their images

Ad Access (Duke University advertising collections) http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess/copyright

Bibliotheque Nationale de France (Gallica)  http://gallica.bnf.fr

British Library  https://imagesonline.bl.uk/?service=page&action=show_home_page&language=en

The DPLA offers a variety of public domain content as well as content licensed under Creative Commons license, CC BY 3.0 License.

Europeana  http://www.europeana.eu/portal/ Offers digital reproductions of predominantly public domain works. Europeana has Usage Guidelines and requests that you credit the author and otherwise use the work appropriately.

Manuscripts Online http://www.manuscriptsonline.org Terms of Use http://www.manuscriptsonline.org/terms   educational only

Morguefile (stock photos for presentations) http://www.morguefile.com High quality professional photos available free for any use except stand alone use (you can't take the photo and try to sell it by itself). Most of the photographers contributing to MorgueFile do not require attribution.

National Gallery of Art  https://images.nga.gov/en/page/show_home_page.html

Perseus Digital Library  http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper

Life Photo Archive http://images.google.com/hosted/life

Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html and  http://www.loc.gov/pictures/

New York Public Library Digital Collections  http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm

Smithsonian Institution   http://collections.si.edu/search/ and http://www.si.edu/termsofuse

Wellcome Images

U.S. government agencies:

  • National Archives and Records Administration
  • NOAA
  • Department of Agriculture
  • NASA 

Museums offering images without fees

Image sources: fee-based resources for publication

In most cases, there will be a fee for use of the image and for a high-quality digital file for reproduction.

IAP:  Images for Academic Publishing  http://www.artstor.org/what-is-artstor/w-html/services-publishing.shtml

AKG images  http://www.akg-images.co.uk/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=Home (Archive for Art and History)

Art Resource   http://www.artres.com

Artists Rights Society   http://www.arsny.com/

Bildarchiv Foto Marburg,  http://www.bildindex.de/#|0

Bridgeman Images   http://www.bridgemanimages.com/en-US/

Scholars Resource    http://www.scholarsresource.com/

SAH (Society of Architectural Historians)  SAHARA (must be a SAH member to access)

http://www.sah.org/publications-and-research/sahara

World Images  http://worldart.sjsu.edu/

Image sources: Public Domain and Creative Commons License