Photo Credits: tinou

Some Flickr members allow you to use their work under what is known as a Creative Commons license. This means that you may use their pictures on your site if certain conditions are met.

These conditions are grouped in four different kinds of licenses, which can be applied independently or in conjunction with each other. These licenses, the icons that symbolize them, and what they mean, are:

Attribution License

You can copy, distribute, display, and modify the author’s work, but only if you give the author credit in the way he/she specifies.

Non Commercial License

You can copy, distribute, display, and modify the author’s work, but only for non-commercial purposes.

No Derivative Works License

You can copy, distribute and display the author’s work, but only verbatim, without modifying it in any way.

Share Alike License

You can distribute modified work only under the same conditions the author allowed you to modify and distribute it.

Examples of Combined Licenses:

You can use it if you give proper credit and your site is non-commercial.

You can use it by giving proper credit, but you can’t modify it.

You can use the image by giving proper credit, but only if your site is non-commercial and you don’t modify the image in any way.

You can use the image by giving proper credit, but only if your site is non-commercial, don’t modify the image in any way, and you link to the page in the Creative Commons site that explains the type of license the image is subject to.

What This Means to You

The best bet for bloggers who want to use Flickr pictures is to find images licensed only under the Attribution license, since they have the fewest restrictions attached.

How to Find Images in Flickr

To find images images filed under the Attribution license go to Flickr’s Attribution License search page, and type the keywords that best describe the kind of image you’re looking for in the search box.

Follow Flickr’s Guidelines for Use

Once you’ve found an image that you like, make sure that you use it according to Flickr’s guidelines. You must hyperlink the image to its original Flickr page and write down the owner’s username under the picture, linking it to his or her page, just like I’ve done with the image below:

Photo Credits: Galfred

That’s it. You can now safely tap into Flickr’s wealth of amazing images to dress up your blog and make your posts come to life.

For more information you can:

• Go to the Flickr Creative Commons page.
• Go to Flickr’s FAQ page.
• Contact the image owners directly.

Technorati Tags: branding marketing blogging flickr creative+commons photography

Del.icio.us / Digg / Stumble it!

Subscribe