Most of the images and video you will find through LibreStock's multisite search tools will carry a Creative Commons license known as CC0. This type of license is basically a blanket permission from the person who owns the rights to the image that lets you use the photograph in question for many kinds of both personal and commercial purposes.
However, there are some exceptions, and we know it's important to you and your brand to understand fully what you can and cannot do with the stock you'd like to use both on and off the web.
Creative Commons, Copyright, and You
To understand the license's terms, it helps to first understand how permissions to photographic images are handled without Creative Commons.
In the United States as well as in other countries, copyright laws protect works like photographs and video by reserving all the rights to the work to the creator. To change that, the copyright holder and user would have to enter into a pretty complicated contract.
Creative Commons is a way to simplify all that. With a published set of terms under various versions of CC licenses, both creators and users can select the package of rights and restrictions they prefer, without the complexity and formalities of written agreements.
How Can You Use Images Licensed Under CC0?
If your selected image or video is CC-0 licensed, you can use it, absolutely free, for any personal or commercial use. You can download the image or video, revise or edit it, and use it in any way you like, all for free.
And attribution or credit isn't required (although we think it's a nice thing to do).
Exceptions to CC-0 Licensing
While CC0 licensing terms are pretty broad, they're not completely without restriction. Under the CC0 licensing you can't pass off the image as your own work, and you can't imply or state any kind of endorsement by the image creator or anyone depicted in the image.
In addition, the Gratisography and ShotStash sites have a couple of exceptions that you should be aware of, in case the image you select comes from one of these collections. Read the terms of the ShotStash license here and the Gratisography license terms here.
Full Terms
This page is just a summary of the CC0 license. To find out more about the CC0's license and specific terms, the explicit terms of the license can be found here.
Any Questions
We're very proud of LibreStock but we're always looking for ways to improve.
If you have any questions or suggestions that might make the LibreStock experience even better, please let us know!
Likewise, if you spot an image shouldn't be displayed here because of intellectual property or privacy right issues, we urge you to get in touch with us immediately at [email protected]. Please be sure to include the URL for the image you're reporting, as well as any other information you can provide that will help us resolve the issue quickly.