Policy for the Use of Copyrighted Works: VII. Use of Images

Visual images are typically sold by image brokers (commercial vendors) who have made photographic reproductions pursuant to a non-exclusive right with the creator of the object, or who have acquired a reproduction license to market images made from public domain objects owned or controlled by museums or corporations.

Visual images made from reproductions in books and journals for purposes such as teaching or research are understood to be fair use when photographic representations of the objects are no longer available or reasonably accessible from commercial vendors, the object's creator, or the owner of the work.

Assuming a fair use of copyrighted materials in providing images for the purposes of comparisons, contrast, or comment in lectures, permissions are not necessary. Permission is required if the use of the copyrighted image is for other purposes, such as publication, promotion, or in circumstances where profit and/or commercial advantage is the motive for the use.

A. Definitions

The material referred to by these guidelines applies to images in the following formats:

1. Visual image is a digital or analog photographic representation or reproduction of works of art (painting, sculpture, decorative or craft objects, graphics media, drawings, collages, mixed media, and electronic media) and architecture, and also includes maps, diagrams, charts, clip art, graphics and scientific drawings. Images are typically surrogates for the represented works; their intrinsic value is primarily as documentation of the original object.
2. Image archive is a collection of images, acquired and maintained by an organization such as a non-profit library, museum, or school. An image archive can be a collection of collections in different formats, including slides and online digital compilations. Images in archives derive from numerous sources: from commercial vendors of images, from work-for-hire, from donation by amateur and professional photographers, and from copy photography.
3. Copy photography is making slides or photographs from reproductions in books or journals. This widespread and long-standing practice has been a necessity for teaching.

B. Fair Use and Images (Digital or Physical)

The Visual Resources Association (VRA), in response to uncertainties regarding fair use of images for educational uses, created a Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study in 2012. Generally, most images are protected by copyright law and permission is required to use the image as is, or to adapt it. The VRA supports the fair use claims for preservation, use of images for teaching purposes (both in class and online), adaptations of images for teaching and classroom work by students, sharing images among educational and cultural institutions to facilitate teaching and study, and reproduction of images in theses and dissertations. The following guidelines were influenced by the VRA Statement.

1. Guidelines for (a) preservation, (b) use of images for teaching purposes (in class and online), and (c) sharing images among educational and cultural institutions to facilitate teaching and study:

• Make only the number of copies reasonably necessary for teaching and research needs.
• Notify end users that the copyrighted images are only being made available for educational purposes.
• Limit access to images to those in a particular class using the Learning Management System.
• Provide attribution to known copyright owners of the images.
• Provide access to images by directly linking to licensed image databases provided by the Trible Library, or linking to online image galleries.

2. Guidelines for adaptations of images for teaching and class affiliated projects by students:

• Clearly use the work in an educational context
• Indicate the educational context in accompanying descriptive materials
• Limit access to images to those in a particular class using the Learning Management System.

3. Guidelines for reproduction of images in theses and dissertations:

• Images should be the subject of significant commentary
• Significant commentary or other original content should accompany images
• Images are incorporated at a size or resolution necessary to make the best scholarly argument
• Provide attribution to known copyright owners of the images.

C. Use of images for promotion purposes

When images are not used for educational purposes, such as advertisement and promotion, permission should be obtained or copyright-free images utilized instead. This applies to both print and web uses. It is important in these cases to determine the copyright owner, who may not be the creator. For example, in the case of a book cover, it is usually the book publisher that owns the copyright, not the book’s author or cover art artist.

Resources for obtaining permissions for visual works, as well as options for free images can be found on the CNU Copyright Resources: Images page.