120 Places To Find Creative Commons Media

Creative Commons: A Treasure Trove of Free Media for Your Projects

The internet is awash with paid content, from subscription-based articles to ad-laden blogs. However, a vibrant and growing community thrives online, offering a wealth of media under Creative Commons licenses. These licenses grant you the right to use audio, video, images, and text for free, but with specific conditions. Crucially, different licenses have varying restrictions, some limiting use to private purposes or requiring attribution to the original creator. Always carefully review the license terms before using any file.

This updated guide expands on a 2009 SitePoint article, reflecting the significant growth of the Creative Commons movement. The sheer volume of resources necessitates highlighting key websites within each media category, with remaining entries listed alphabetically.

Key Takeaways:

• Creative Commons licenses offer free media with stipulations like attribution or private use only.
• The movement has exploded since 2009, with countless new resources.
• CC-licensed audio is invaluable for video background music, podcasts, and sound effects.
• Numerous websites and search engines facilitate CC media discovery, including Creative Commons Search, Archive.org, Wikimedia Commons, Let's CC, and Pond5's Public Domain Project.
• Six main Creative Commons licenses exist, each with unique restrictions. Understanding these is paramount.

Audio Resources:

Free audio's applications are boundless: video backgrounds, podcast intros, or simple link sound effects. CC-licensed music is particularly popular among content creators, fueled by the rise of platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. The sheer number of new resources reflects this demand.

• ccMixter.org: Thousands of remixed songs across genres. Check each track's license details.
• MusOpen: A repository of public domain classical music, including sheet music and educational resources.
• Free Music Archive (FMA): A curated library of high-quality, legally cleared audio downloads.
• TeknoAXE: Over 1200 songs (growing weekly) under CC 4.0, requiring attribution.
• Silverman Sound Studios: Shane Ivers' collection of nearly 100 songs under CC Attribution 4.0.

(Alphabetical list of other audio resources omitted for brevity, but included in the original.)

General Creative Commons Searches:

Finding CC media can be challenging. Fortunately, several tools simplify the process.

• Creative Commons Search: Connects to multiple search engines for optimal results. (Image search beta: ccsearch.creativecommons.org)
• Archive.org: Beyond the Wayback Machine, it houses vast CC audio, video, and text.
• Wikimedia Commons: Over 40 million media files, each with its own license details.
• Let's CC: A Korean interface searching across various engines like Flickr and YouTube.
• Pond5's Public Domain Project: Over 60,000 historic media files.

(Mainstream search engines also work effectively when including "Creative Commons" in your search query.)

Image Resources:

The free image landscape has dramatically changed since 2009. While stock photography sites once dominated, now numerous resources offer CC-licensed alternatives. This section features a mix of large platforms and individual photographer collections.

• Flickr Creative Commons: A vast repository with pre-filtered searches by license type.
• Unsplash: A massive and popular community with over 200,000 images.
• 500px Creative Commons: A large community with pre-defined CC searches.
• Pixabay: A community offering CC0 (public domain) images, illustrations, vectors, and videos.
• Libreshot: A single-author collection with hundreds of images.

(Alphabetical list of other image resources omitted for brevity, but included in the original.)

Text Resources:

CC-licensed texts are useful for quotes and phrases in website headers.

• Project Gutenberg: A long-standing repository of public domain books and texts.
• Intratext: A vast library of texts spanning centuries. Check individual license details.
• Wisdom Commons: Quotes, poems, and essays on virtues.
• The Public Domain Review: An online journal featuring historical works.
• The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP): A finding tool for federal publications.

(Alphabetical list of other text resources omitted for brevity, but included in the original.)

Video Resources:

Video content is increasingly important online. These resources offer high-quality, free stock footage.

• Vimeo Creative Commons: A large collection of CC-licensed videos with easy search tools.
• Videvo: Around 6000 clips (growing daily), with license details to check.
• Pixabay: Also offers a substantial collection of HD and 4K video clips.
• Flickr: A large number of CC-licensed videos, many amateur but with hidden gems.
• Open Images: An open media platform with CC-licensed audiovisual archive material and an API.

(Alphabetical list of other video resources omitted for brevity, but included in the original.)

Conclusion:

This expanded guide provides a comprehensive starting point for finding Creative Commons media. Remember to always review license terms before use.

(FAQs section omitted for brevity, but included in the original.)

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