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Visual Communications Technology: Use Images

A guide to information resources for Visual Communications Technology (VCT) students.

Using Images

Deciding whether and how to use an image can be a bit complicated. If you are sharing an image as part of an assignment (such as an art history paper), you should cite that image. If you plan to reuse or remix another artist's image in your artwork, you may need to determine whether it constitutes "fair use," or if permissions are required. If you have questions about citation, attribution, or reuse, please contact the library. 

Citation

When do you use an academic citation?

You must cite any image or visual media that you use when you are writing a more formal paper. Your instructor will let you know if he or she wants you to use citations and which style is required.

What information do you need to cite?

  • Artist/Photographer
  • Title of work
  • Year
  • Medium
  • Institution housing the work
  • location of the institution

 

Where do you put a citation?

A citation is inserted in a paper in two places:

1. Within the body of your paper (in-text citations)
2. In a list at the end of your paper (usually called Works Cited,References or Bibliography) 

Academic Citation in APA Format 

Public Domain

A Lady Walking in a Garden with a Child by Thomas Gainsborough

"A Lady Walking in a Garden with a Child" by Thomas Gainsborough is in the Public Domain, CC0

Thomas Gainsborough (English, 1727 - 1788)
A Lady Walking in a Garden with a Child, about 1785, Black chalk with stumping and heightened with white pastel
50.8 × 22.1 cm (20 × 8 11/16 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.This applies to Australia, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.

 

What is Public Domain?

The term Public Domain refers to creative works that are free from copyright protection and so can be used by everyone.

This may be due to:

  • the copyright term has expired
  • the copyright holder didn't follow certain requirements
  • copyright is not applicable to the work (US Government works, for example)
  • the work's creator moved it to the public domain

Ask yourself these 6 questions:

  1. When the work was created.
  2. When (or if) the work was registered with the US Copyright Office.
  3. When the work was first published.
  4. Where the work was first published.
  5. Whether the work was published with a valid copyright notice.
  6. When (or if) the work's copyright was renewed.

Attribution

When do you use an attribution?

An attribution is less formal than a citation. Simpler. It is often used for presentations or papers or other formats that do not require a formal citation style.

 

What information do you need to attribute?

  • Where the image came from (URL)
  • Who created it
  • If it has a creative commons license

 

Where do you put an attribution?

Put the attribution right under the image or visual media

Giving Credit to Image Creators

The image above of the mushroom has a line of text below it. That line of text is what's called an attribution. You can easily make an attribution using the link to the Creative Commons attribution generator. This is not an academic citation and should be used in place of an MLA, APA, or Chicago citation when no academic citation is required. 

What is "Fair Use"?

Four factors to consider in determining Fair Use:

1. PURPOSE: the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes


2. NATURE OF THE COPYRIGHTED WORK


3. AMOUNT AND SUSTAINABILITY: the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

 

4. MARKET EFFECT: the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

 

 
   

William H. Sawdon. Mounted studio portrait photograph, possibly of 'W. Jevons.' Date unknown. 

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND 

Artistic Appropriation and Reuse

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