iStockphoto is a favourite image resource with many readers here, but did you also know that you could be tapping into the hugh repository of images by both professional and amateur photographers at Flickr?

Image by *L*u*z*a*

There are 2 main things that stop many small business owners using Flickr images online or in other documents - 1) the overwhelming number of images that you need to wade through, and 2) not fully understanding the usage rules under Creative Commons.

Below I will give you some insight into what each of the main Creative Commons licenses mean, and where and how you can use each of them, and how you can find images under each category. And at the end I will give you a hot tip on cutting to the good stuff without wading through the average images.

What You Can Use

There are 2 main categories of images on Flick those that you can’t use (labelled “All rights reserved” or “copyrighted”) unless you have the explicit authority of the photographer, and those that you can use. The images that you can use have a range of different license conditions that are governed by Creative Commons. Whether you can use the image depends on

• where you want to use the image
• whether it is for commercial gain
• whether you are going to modify the image

Understanding How the Licenses Work

Each of the “available” images on Flickr is available under one of the six Creative Commons licenses.

Attribution License

This license allows you to modify the images (eg. cropping them, resizing, colouring or adding content to them) and allows use in both commercial and non-commercial situations. The only requirement is that you credit the author with a link back to their profile (like you see in the image above).

Link to browse the Attribution Licensed photos

Attribution-NoDerivs License

This license allows you to use the photo in both commercial and non-commercial contexts as long as you credit the photographer. The difference between this and the above license is that you are forbidden to modify the work in any way (that includes cropping and adding other content on the image).

Link to browse the Attribution-NoDerivs Licensed photos

Attribution-ShareAlike License

This license allows you to modify the photo and display it in both commercial and non-commercial situations as long as you do 2 things - 1) link to the photographer’s profile in Flickr and 2) link to the distribution license for the photo.

Link to browse the Attribution-ShareAlike licensed photos

Image by Chris (archi3d)

Attribution-NonCommercial License

This license allows you to display and modify the image in any non-commercial space with a link to the photographer’s profile. In short this means anywhere that it could be argued the image helps increase your income. Examples of non commercial contexts include: blogs displaying ads (any ads at all), inside products, online stores.

Even if you are not generating income from your web/blog space at the moment but might conisder doing so in the future, it would be a good idea to stick with the licenses that allow commerical usage.

Link to browse the Attribution-NonCommercial licensed photos

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

This license allows you to use photos that are not modified (as mentioned above), with a credit to the author and as long as you’re not profiting from the context of the image.

Once again, if you plan to profit from the space in future, you’re better off sticking with the more flexible Attribution License.

Link to browse the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licensed photos

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

This license allows you to use photos in non-commercial spaces with 1) credit the image owner and a link to their profile and 2) a link to the license page with the image credit (alongside a link to the photographer’s profile). Share Alike means you need to make clear the license of the image wherever you use it.

Link to browse the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licensed photos.

Hot Tip for Getting to the Good Stuff

One of the challenges of Flickr is separating the excellent from the average (or irrelevant). One of the easiest ways to do that is with the “most interesting” tag. After you have done a search, for say “nature”, and you get a very long list of possibilities you can cut that down to just the images that the Flickr community consider interesting.

Clicking on this “most interesting” link will definitely save you time and frustration.

So what are you waiting for? I’m looking forward to seeing what you can find in Flickr.