Using Images
You may be asked to include images or film in your assignments or projects.
It is important to understand that, unless explicitly stated, any image or film you find or can access on the internet should be considered protected under copyright law.
What images can you use?
If you want to use images or film and plan on sharing your work outside of your course, you must be able to demonstrate that they are not protected under copyright law, are accessible through Creative Commons, or owned by you.
For work only submitted as part of your course- NOT shared with outside partied, you can use images / film found on the internet through fair dealing. However, you MUST provide an accurate attribution of the work as well as a reference.
All students are expected to comply with copyright legislation, and could be sued for distributing third-party copyrighted materials. Clear explanation of the requirements of copyright law, and good academic practice, including plagiarism, is covered in our Assignment Toolkit.
You can find out more about copyright at the following
Copyright Guide here you will find lots of information to help and more about the licenses that we hold.
British Library: includes books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, photographs, newspapers and sound. Many of the digital collections provide material for free online.
Cabinet Papers (National Archive): a non-ministerial department, and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. They are the guardians of over 1,000 years of iconic national documents, as well as leading the archive sector to secure the future of physical and digital records.
Connected Histories: brings together a range of digital resources related to early modern and nineteenth century Britain with a single federated search that allows sophisticated searching of names, places and dates. Categories include: Crime and Justice; Family; Imperial & Colonial; London & Local; Parliamentary; Poverty; and Religious.
Darwin Online: is the largest and most widely consulted edition of the writings of Darwin. The website contains over 212,000 pages of searchable text and 220,000 electronic images, at least one exemplar of all known Darwin publications, reproduced to the highest scholarly standards. The majority of these have been edited and annotated here for the first time with more than 4,900 original editorial notes. This website also provides the largest collection of Darwin's private papers and manuscripts ever published: c. 20,000 items across c. 100,000 images, thanks primarily to the kind permission of Cambridge University Library.
Institute of Historical Research: a library of nearly 1300 volumes of primary and secondary content.
John Johnson Collection: provides access to thousands of items selected from the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera, offering unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Categories include Nineteenth-Century Entertainment; Booktrade; Prints; Crimes, Murders and Executions; and Advertising.
Old Bailey Online (The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913): is a fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.
Queen Victoria's Journals: reproduces as high-resolution colour images every page of the surviving volumes of Queen Victoria's journals, along with separate photographs of the many illustrations and inserts within the pages. Each page has been meticulously transcribed and re-keyed, allowing for the journals to be searched. A number of specially-commissioned essays have also been included in this resource, to further support the study and understanding of Queen Victoria and her world.
You can also access a wide range of video and radio programmes through Box of Broadcasts
There are many collections offering images that have the Creative Commons CO0 licence, this licence means that you can use and edit the image freely. Here are a few places to look:
Disclaimer
The information presented within this guide is intended to provide general guidelines and serves as an interpretation of current issues - it is NOT legal advice.
Therefore, whilst Learning Services staff are happy to assist any queries you have, it is the responsibility of the individual to ensure they comply with UK copyright law.