So you've stumbled on a photo that you can use -- or maybe you were lucky and found the perfect one for your needs. But what exatly are you allowed to do with the photo? And what are you not allowed to do?

 

 

What the license says

 

The nice thing about CC licenses is that they make this process much easier. They are very clear on what you can, or cannot, do with a photo. As long as you follow the conditions of the license you are good to go. 

 

 

Permission to do more

 

In some cases, you may want to do things (with the photo!) that the license does not allow. For example, you want to draw stuff on top of an image that you found, which does not allow derivatives. In those cases, you will either have to ask the author for permission or find a different photo that does give you the permissions you need. 

 

 

Here is a little caveat that we should add - Technically, you can't assume that anything you find on the web is correctly marked, eg. that a photo is by the author and under the terms stated. Ideally you should always verify that the work is actually under a CC license by following the link(s) to the license. Since there is no registration to use a CC license, CC has no way to determine what has and hasn't been placed under the terms of a CC license. If you are ever in doubt you can also contact the copyright holder directly, or try to contact the site where you found the content.