As a blogger, I use Google Image Search tool a lot. I am sure that you are also no exception. Google Image Search is a powerful tool that helps me find suitable images for my blog posts. And now, to help bloggers like you and me, Google has added a new feature to the image search tool that restricts Image Search results to Creative Commons images.

So, the new feature enables users to find Creative Commons images. This is really helpful, because we all want to stay away from copyright issues. Now, with this new feature you can easily find images that are tagged with licenses that authorize you to share, use and even modify.  It is not just about Creative Commons, the new feature will also look for images that have already been tagged with other licenses, like GNU Free Documentation license, or are in the public domain.

To enable this feature, you need to go to the “Advanced Image Search” page on Google. Under the “Usage Rights” section, you can select the type of license you’d like to search for, such as those marked for reuse or even for commercial reuse with modification. Select the type of license you want and perform a search. Your image search results will be restricted only to images marked with that type of license.

Normally, under a Creative Commons license, artists allow people to copy and distribute their works with proper credit. But, note that a Creative Commons license may or may not allow commercial use and further modifications. Moreover, the Google Image Search tools returns search results based on different factors. So, there is no guarantee that the content Google Image Search result linked to is actually in the public domain, or available under the license. That’s why it is advised that you check the license information properly before using or modifying an image.

via: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/find-creative-commons-images-with-image.html