How to tell if an image is in the public domain
From GeoClasses
By default, you must assume that any image on a website is copyright protected. The trick to finding out if an image is free to use is to look for the link on the site that says something like "Terms of use" or "Copyright". If this page says that the image is in the public domain or free for educational use or non-commercial use then you can use the image. Whatever the site says however, if you can use an image you must still cite the website source of the image.
Good sources for public domain images:
- Most US government sites: Images taken or produced by US government personnel is typically in the public domain. Good sites for Geoscience images are:
- NASA, particularly the visible earth site http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/
- USGS - US geological survey: http://www.usgs.gov/
- Sites allowing free educational images:
