What we can and cannot offer

What we can offer: each image under the license printed on its page. Public domain and CC0 mean free for any use with no credit required. CC BY means free for any use with credit to the creator, and the credit line is written out for you on the page.

What we cannot offer: rights beyond that license. We are a library, not the owner, so we cannot sell you extra rights, promise exclusivity, or sign anything about a picture.

One honest warning: a free license covers the picture itself. It does not always cover everything in the picture. A trademark or logo inside an image can carry its own rights. A recognizable person's likeness can too, especially in advertising. Checking the fit for a commercial use is on the person using the image. When it matters, check with the source page linked from every picture, or ask a lawyer for the big decisions.

We check licenses carefully at the door, and if we ever get one wrong, tell us and we fix it or take the picture down. That promise is on the takedown page.

Back to the library · Respect for creators · Licenses in plain words