Did you know CC has a copyright policy? Following the policy helps protect you against copyright violations in content creation and publishing, and also protects your work and rights as an author or creator of images, art, documents, and other content.

The policy supports CC's core values by encouraging the creation and dissemination of creative and intellectual work by its members. It supports contributions to the world of ideas and civic discourse, while reaffirming the college's commitment to respect intellectual property rights. This policy applies to all faculty, staff, and students.

Please view the full Intellectual Property and Copyright policy.

A few key points include:

• The creator owns the copyright
• Rights are determined by contract, which is especially important in collaborative work
• The college owns the rights in directed and commissioned works
• Colorado College expects all faculty, staff, and students to make a reasonable effort to comply with copyright laws in their use of copyrighted materials
• Specific guidelines must be followed in the fair use of copyrighted works for education and research
• For example, it is a violation of the policy to take a photo from the internet that does not belong to you and post it to our site without permission of the photo's owner

College-owned images

The office of communications maintains a large collection of photos taken over the years. See more information about the D.A.M. (Digital Asset Management) system.

Sources for freely licensed images

If the D.A.M. doesn't have what you are looking for, you may be able to find and use freely licensed photos online, as long as you are careful to verify that you have the permission of the photo's owner. Many photographers license their photos under a permissive license like Creative Commons, making them available for your use, as long as you follow certain stipulations (like providing attribution so they get credit for the image). Other photos are public domain, meaning they are free from any known copyright protection (for example, many US government-produced photos are in the public domain). Below are a few sources for freely licensed images:

• Creative Commons-licensed photos on Flickr - Click on "Some rights reserved" to see how the photo is licensed and whether attribution is required.
• Free media resources on Wikimedia Commons - Include the "Suggested attribution"
• Smithsonian Open Access - Include the "Credit line"
• New York Public Library Digital Collections - Make sure to check "Search only public domain materials" when searching.