How to Cite Images

An image such as a drawing or photograph is protected by copyright. If you want to use an image that you did not create, you must obtain specific permission from the copyright-holder and agree on the terms of use. One common commercial agreement is known as a royalty–free license to use an image. A royalty is an agreed-on fee paid for each use of a commercial item. Watch the video below to understand the importance of copyright.

Not all images require a fee or a license before using them in your business product. Images in the public domain are not copyright-protected and can be used by anyone for any purpose. Any image created prior to 1923 is no longer protected by U.S. copyright and is in the public domain. Images created by the U.S. government are also public domain regardless of the date of creation. Some copyright holders voluntarily place images in the public domain in collections such as The Commons at Flickr, and these can also be freely used without obtaining a license however it is always polite to give the artist credit. Below is a list of sites that contain images that are in the public domain or free for reuse. 

Follow these quick steps to cite an image that is NOT free for reuse:

To cite an image found through Google using the image-search function, you must identify the Web site where the image was posted. Then, cite the image like you would if you found it through the original website where it was posted. If the image has no official title, create a short description of your own.

Title of image or your own description of the image. Digital Image. Title of the website where it was published (not google!). Date it was published (if you know it). URL.

Elephant next to a car. Digital image. The London Telegraph. 13 May 2008, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/jkhfds/image.

Start Citing Digital Images Using any of the free citation generators below:

• Bibcitation
• Citation Builder
• Citation Machine
• EasyBib
• Formatically
• KnightCite
• MyBib
• Quickcite