Reasons Public Domain Images Are Better Than Creative Commons
Whether we are content writers or designers, we crave information and inspiration for our work. If we can get content or media to use in our work legally without hassles, it is a great opportunity to dive in. That is what Public domain images and creative commons images offer us. However, there are subtle differences between the two, which give room for comparison. Let us briefly understand the differences. Public domain works are those works whose copyright has expired and can be freely used by the public. Creative commons is also a copyright license where ‘all the rights are not reserved’ like the traditional copyright license. Some rights are shared with the public. Which vary based on the license type.
Attribution
For public domain images, giving credits is not mandatory; though giving a credit to the artist is considered a good practice. All the creative commons licenses require the user to give a credit to the artist. The act of giving a credit is called attribution according to the licenses’ legal terminology. Some artists and writers avoid the usage of creative commons images in their works for the same reason.
Commercial use
Both public domain images and creative commons images can be used for commercial purposes. (i.e.) the users can use such images in their works and be able to sell them. There are three creative commons image licenses namely Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA, and Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND that prohibits commercial usage of any kind. Some experts in the field suggest that images under these licenses can be used in web content like blogs, YouTube videos etc., as long as the image the work is not sold. For example, these images cannot be printed in a shirt or mug and put for sale but they can be used in blogs and websites, though they are monetized through ads. However, the expert opinions differ in this matter. Public domain works doesn’t have any kind of restrictions on commercial use, hence if the user is sure that the work is in public domain, one can sell it with or without modification.
Modification and derivation
Public domain images can be modified, adapted and be used as a part of another work, creative commons NoDerivs licenses only allow the users to share the work or art as it is. They cannot be modified in anyway, both commercially and non-commercially. This is another disadvantage, which leads artists and writers to avoid certain creative commons images and videos because they will not be able to own it or make it their own work without modifying it. It is to be noted that some CC licenses allow modification. Attribution CC BY (allows modification even commercially).
License of derived work
When you derive or adapt a work from creative commons images which allows commercial usage, the license of the derived work also falls in creative commons, meaning anyone can use your work for free by giving attribution to you, they do not need to pay any kind of royalty to you for selling those images.
However, in the case of public domain images, the modified image is protected by copyright and no one else can use the modified version of the image designed by you without your permission. This is one of the main features, which attracts artists and designers toward public domain. Let me quote a popular example here.
Though everyone is free to copy, use the image of the Mona Lisa even commercially, the modified version of the same image (with mustache and hat) is protected by copyright and it is not considered a public domain work though it is a derivative work.
How to find whether an image is under public domain
Though there are many advantages of using public domain works, determining that the work is under public domain becomes very crucial to stay out of any legal trouble. The fact that copyright status of a work differs from country to country makes things more complex.
In India, Copyright expires in 60 years after the death of the last author. Using popular works whose copyright status we know for sure, like paintings of Raja Ravi Varma for example, will be a safe play.
There are different websites, which lists such images
https://www.pexels.com/public-domain-images/
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/
However, most of the websites listing images determine the copyright status based on US Laws.
Fun facts about public domain:
Public domain is called CC0 (creative commons 0) though it is not bound by the rules of any other CC licenses.
CC0 license allows copyright owners to release their works with no restrictions. Hence, CC0 is free of copyright protection.
Some questions regarding Creative commons answered
What is the best way to use creative commons to your advantage?
Many popular artists may release their work under creative commons, in that case, using their work along with your content can be a good strategy, and its attribution can serve as a factor which drives traffic to your content.
Another place to use such content would be on social media, you can include hashtags related to the artist to bring more eyeballs to your posts and you may even tag them with a thank you note in some cases.
Where to find creative commons content?
https://wordpress.org/openverse/ is a good place to search for creative commons content from valid sources.
Flickr has a filter to find only creative commons images. Visit https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
To summarize, both public domain and creative commons licenses have their own advantages for different kinds of usage. However, in the opinion of the experts, public domain images are far more advantageous for creating derivative works or for selling the works as they are. Secondly, public domain status of a work is determined based on the law posed by the governments that varies from country to country, but creative common status is willfully granted by the original author or creator of the work. Though public domain is better, the generosity of authors who keep creative commons alive deserve great appreciation.