Digital Media Sources

Where can I legitimately get media (images and music) to use in my project?

The following sites contain lots of media files that are published with permission for you to use. However, not every image or song on all of these sites is available for free use.  Read the information page where you find the media to confirm.

Remember you should still cite your source even if the media is free and it does not require permission to use it! Examples of attribution are available here.

Audio

Before trying to rip sound from YouTube or using something you have in iTunes, try getting music or sounds from one of the sites below, which include audio you can use in your project with no risk of violating copyright.

• • Jamendo Music - Includes ability to browse for free indie music by mood or genre.  You can login using your D-E Google account if you want to create a playlist for your project.

  • Openverse (sounds and music) - Previously called Creative Commons Search.  Searches for Creative Commons licensed media across multiple sites (including others on this list). Creative Commons licenses frequently allow editing and reusing others' work.

  • FreePD - Public domain music, which means you can use it for any purpose without restriction. Browsable by genre.

  • ccMixter (music)

• • Free Music Archive (music)

  • Open Source Audio collection from the Internet Archive (music) - all free 

  • Freesound (sounds not songs)

If you need to use music on a school iPad and you purchased the song using a personal Apple ID, you can add both your personal and school Apple ID to the same Family Sharing plan to share music for free between both accounts. Family Sharing is a free service from Apple.

Video

• Wikimedia Commons videos  - Searchable media archive for Wikipedia with easy to download video clips licensed for reuse.

Images

While you may be used to going to Google Image Search when you want to find an image, many of the images indexed there are NOT published with permission for you to copy and reuse them.  (Some are, but you need to find copyright information on the original site to determine that.)

Here are some websites and lists of websites that do contain many images  you can freely use in school projects that you are going to publish on the web.  (Remember you still have to cite your source even if you are allowed to copy the image.)

• • Unsplash - High-resolution photos for public use from amateur and professional photographers. Citations listed automatically when an image is downloaded.

  • Openverse - Previously called Creative Commons Search.  Searches for Creative Commons licensed media across multiple sites (including others on this list). Creative Commons licenses frequently allow editing and reusing others' work.

  • Photos For Class - Photos licensed for public use with citations included automatically when downloaded.

  • Wikimedia Commons - the media archive for Wikipedia. Lots of Creative Commons licensed media. Most media here can be reused without obtaining any kind of permission from the original author.

  • U.S. Government Photos and Images - Available for any use (public domain) because the media is from the federal government.

  • Pics4Learning (images including maps) - Permissions is granted for student and teacher use.

  • Metropolitan Museum of Art public domain collection -  Images of artworks in The Met's collection that the Museum believes to be in the public domain, or those to which the Museum waives any copyright it might have.

  • morgueFile (photos) - Permission is granted for reuse and remixing. 

Remember you should still cite your source even if the media is free and it does not require permission to use it! Examples of attribution are available here.