How to Legally Use Free Images Without Copyright Infringement

When writing public articles, many authors add images or music, often sourced from search engines, which can expose them to copyright infringement risks.

Image copyright infringement means violating the rights of the copyright holder; Chinese law protects both moral rights (such as attribution) and economic rights (including reproduction and network transmission).

Not all images are prohibited; refer to Article 22, Paragraph 1 of the Copyright Law, which permits use without permission under certain conditions.

Article 22, Paragraph 1 states that works may be used without the author's permission and without payment when the use falls within the listed exceptions, provided the author is credited and other rights are not violated.

For personal learning, research, or appreciation, using already published works.

For introducing or commenting on a work, appropriate quotation is allowed.

For news reporting, reproducing published works is unavoidable.

For publishing political, economic, or religious articles previously published by other media, unless the author forbids it.

For broadcasting speeches delivered at public gatherings, unless the author forbids it.

For classroom teaching or scientific research, limited copying or translation is allowed, but not for commercial distribution.

For government agencies performing official duties within a reasonable scope.

For libraries, archives, museums, etc., copying works for exhibition or preservation.

For free performances of published works without charging the public or paying performers.

For copying or photographing artworks displayed in outdoor public spaces.

For translating Chinese-language works into minority languages for domestic publication.

For converting published works into Braille.

If the use complies with the above, it is not infringement; otherwise, it may be.

Creating your own images is ideal, but when that is difficult you can rely on external resources, especially when the author has granted permission or the work is freely licensed.

Pexels

URL: https://www.pexels.com/zh-cn/

Pexels provides high‑quality, completely free images under the Pexels license, with searchable tags and a discovery page.

Non‑licensed situations:

Search example for “math” shows mainly photography images, all available in high resolution.

Unsplash

URL: https://unsplash.com/

Similar to Pexels, Unsplash offers a large collection of high‑resolution photos that can be downloaded without logging in.

Pixabay

URL: https://pixabay.com/

Yes. When you download Pixabay content, you may use it in its original form without modification. Exceptions: do not sell unmodified copies as posters, prints, cards, mugs, T‑shirts, etc.; do not redistribute Pixabay content as digital wallpapers or NFTs.

Stocksnap

URL: https://stocksnap.io

All photos on StockSnap are released under the CC0 license, allowing you to copy, modify, distribute, and publish the works without permission.

Gratisography

URL: https://gratisography.com/

This site offers many quirky and unusual images.

pngimg

URL: https://pngimg.com

pngimg provides free PNG images for web and graphic designers, downloadable for any non‑commercial purpose.

Iconstore

URL: https://iconstore.co

Offers a rich collection of royalty‑free icons.

These foreign free‑image sites, along with some domestic paid options, can help you quickly find copyright‑free pictures and icons when needed.