Image Copyright - so you can do it right!

Attention Cougars:  Do you know about image copyright?

If you use a picture, chart, graph, or map from the internet on your poster or in your essay or power point, it is an image that may be subject to copyright laws. 

But if it’s on the Internet, isn’t it free?

Most of the time, the answer is NO!  (You can find free images through free image websites or images with some rights reserved.  Try http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/)

 

If you take an image from the Internet, you need to give full credit where credit is due. The images came from somewhere.  And that somewhere isn’t Google.

When you find an image on a search engine's results page, you need to click on the image.  Then you will get a link or web address in blue next to the original source. 

Click on the link to OPEN IT. 

You need all of the following information (or as much as you can see) for your MLA style citation through Noodletools:

 

  • Image creator’s first and last name
  • Title of the image
  • Title of the web page
  • Publishing company
  • Date of publication
  • Date of download

 

And it will look like this when you print it with Noodletools:

Creator's last name, Creator's first name.  "Title of Image."  Title of Web Page.  Publishing

 

             Company. Date of Publication.  Date of Download .

 

AND you need to copy/paste the citation beneath the image itself. 

For example:

     imagine a robot fish picture here

  

©Dennis, Adrian. Robot Fish. Photography. 2005. “Photo in the News: Robot Fish Debut in London.” By Victoria Gilman. National Geographic News 7 Oct. 2005. 21 Apr. 2009 .  Path: Fish; Images; Photo in the News: Robot Fish Debut in London.

 

So, you might wonder, how do I make the copyright symbol when I’m typing? 

On a Mac

            © = option + “g”

On a PC

            © = Ctrl + Alt + “C”

 

BUT, if you put an image on a website (that can be viewed by anyone, anywhere), you need to get permission from the real person, the copyright holder, before using that image on a website.  A simple but formal email is all you need to write. 

 

Free copyright symbol images for you to use at:

 

http://www.copyrightauthority.com/copyright-symbol