LibGuides: Exhibition Planning: Fair Use for Online Exhibits

Fair Dealing for the Web

It is critical to make sure you have permission to use the images, documents, and objects in your exhibit. Even when you are using them for educational purposes, publishing images to the web for which you do not have permission does not constitute "fair dealing."

Because of this, we recommend that rather searching for materials and then seeking permission to use them, that you search in places where you are likely to find items available for resuse.

Regardless of where you find items that you want to include in your exhibit, make sure they are available for use before including them in your online presentation.

Strategy: Search Public Domain and Creative Commons Materials

For an overview of databases for "public domain" images please see the University of British Columbia's list of Image Sources. Below are a selection of collections and gateways to items and resources either in the "public domain" or are available for use:

American Memory
American Memory provides to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. Some items in American Memory have a copyright holder or are restricted in how they can be used. If you have questions about whether or not something in the collection is in the "public domain," look at the Restriction statement.
Creative Commons Licensed Search
Provides links to major media and search sites where you can find images with creative commons licenses. Site Disclaimer: "Do not assume that the results displayed in this search portal are under a CC license. You should always verify that the work is actually under a CC license by following the link"
Flickr Commons
Collection of photographs that are free of copyright restrictions from dozens of cultural institutions around the world, including the Smithsonian, several U.S. museums, several state archive, NARA, and New York Public Library. Be aware that this is a separate Flickr stream from the main institutional Flickr sites, which often contain copyrighted images.
Images Canada
A centralized database of digitized historical images from cultural institutions across Canada.
U.S. Government Documents
The majority of U.S. government documents are considered in the public domain, and thus available for you to use. There are many ways to access government documents, including adding "site:.gov" to a google search, searching U.S. government documents on flickr, and searching BRIDGE to find print documents downstairs in our collection.

How to Get Permission

If using in copyrighted material and which does not fall under "fair dealing" then please consult UVic Libraries Copyright Office.

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