Google image search:New Feature

GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH:NEW FEATURE

Google has launched a new feature on Image Search to help you find images that you can use for free, while respecting the wishes of artists and creators.

This feature allows you to restrict your Image Search results to images that have been tagged with licences like Creative Commons, making it easier to discover images from across the Web that you can share, use and even modify. Your search will also include works that have been tagged with other licences, like GNU Free Documentation licence, or are in the public domain.

This feature also helps artists who want their images to be discovered and reused across the Web — on their own terms. Creative Commons licences allow artists to specify the ways others may use their work. Artists can licence their images for general reuse, or for noncommercial reuse only. They can also decide whether or not to grant people the right to modify or remix their images. Once they've chosen to make their work available online under these terms, Google Images helps people start to find and use it.

Under the "Usage rights" section, you can select the type of licence you'd like to search for, such as those marked for reuse or even for commercial reuse with modification. Your results will be restricted to images marked with CC or other licences.

Once you confirm the licence of the image and make sure that your use will comply with the terms of the licence (such as proper attribution to the image's owner), you can reuse the image.

Google says, "This feature identifies images that are tagged with licences that authorise reuse. You'll still have to verify that the licencing information is accurate. We can help you take the first step towards finding these images, but we can't guarantee that the content we linked to is actually in the public domain, or available under the licence."

While you find images you can use, you also help artists who've made their images available under these licences gain exposure for their work. So try it out, and let us know what you think.

Posted in: Electronic Gadgets