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Media & Design Center - Labs, Software & Equipment: Media & Design Assets

Audio

Adobe Audition Downloads

Download links to ZIP folders containing thousands of uncompressed, royalty-free sound effects, divided into separate categories. Note that all files are in a .WAV format.

Freesound

A collaborative database of sounds under Creative Common licenses. All content is free provided users follow the correct legal guidelines, e.g. giving attribution to sounds under the Attribution 3.0 license. Requires a free account to download or upload sounds.

Free Music Archive

A resource for royalty-free original music from independent artists. Songs are also free to download but are subject to Creative Common licenses and music licenses.

BBC Sound Effects

The BBC's sound library featuring over 33,000 audio files from across the world and spanning 100 years. Generally free for non-commercial or educational use, given proper credit.

Bensound Royalty Free Music

Royalty-free stock music for multimedia projects. Music is available under the free license with attribution to Bensound. Can be used for online videos, animations, etc., but not for audio podcasts or audiobooks.

Soundly

A cloud sound effect library featuring thousands of different effects. All sounds in the Soundly Pro and Soundly Free libraries are cleared for commercial use.

Fonts

Adobe Fonts

Included with the Creative Cloud subscription.  You can access the fonts library via the Creative Cloud app under Resources or by visiting the URL.  You will need to login to active fonts.  Click the All fonts link in the menu to bring up a search page that allows you to find fonts by language, classification, and properties.  Fonts activated are then available on most Creative Cloud apps such as InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

Google Fonts

Google Fonts is a library of over 1,300 free licensed font families.  Each font has a license section that explains the type of license for the font.  One of the collections in the library is Noto fonts, which includes over 200 font families in more than 1,000 languages.  The site also includes icons.

Font Squirrel

Font Squirrel is a website that curates free typefaces from around the web, all of which are licensed for commercial use.  Some fonts have restrictions on how they may be used, and some may not be usable on the web so check the license before you use the fonts.

Font Library

All fonts available on this site are copyrighted by their creators, and are licensed individually for your use. You can find the license for each font by visiting the font's profile page. By downloading the fonts you agree to be bound by the terms of the license.  Unless otherwise noted, content on this site is published under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike.

Images

This box contains links to websites with free image resources online.  These images are either:

  • In the public domain, meaning they no longer have any copyright restrictions on their use, or:
  • Licensed under Creative Commons, meaning that they can be reused for free, but may have other restrictions on their use.
    • Most images licensed under Creative Commons require attribution to the creator of the original work-give credit where credit is due.
    • Some images under Creative Commons may require modification to the original image, forbid modification to the original image, or forbid use in commercial projects.

Check the original license to determine how an image can be used appropriately.  For academic projects, copyright images may also be covered under Fair Use laws.  For more information on copyright law and image use, please see the UNC Law Library's Copyright Law Basics page, or contact the Scholarly Communications Office.

Google Image Search

Google provides a way to limit your search of images to those under Creative Commons license. After doing a search in Google Images, a menu appears under the search box with the following items: All, Images, News, Shopping, Videos, More, and Tools. 

Screen shot showing the Google search box and menu item underneath

 

Click on the Tools text. When you click on Tools, a new menu row appears below the All, Images, News, Shopping, Videos, and More menu. This menu includes Size, Color, Type, Time, and Usage Rights. Click the down arrow next to Usage Rights to reveal another menu with All, Creative Commons licenses, and Commercial & other licenses. You will select Creative Commons licenses.

Screen shot of Google image search with the Tools menu

The images showing will now be limited to those that use the Creative Commons license agreement.  You will still need to visit the site with the photo you wish to use to see if attribution is to be given.

Openverse (formerly Creative Commons Search)

In 2021, the Creative Commons search moved to Openverse at WordPress.  This webpage allows users to find images and music licensed under Creative Commons from many sources around the world.  Tip: Click on the source you would like to search, type in your search terms, and hit enter.

Flickr Commons

The Flickr Commons project is a project on the photosharing website Flickr, where public cultural institutions post images with no copyright restrictions (i.e. in the public domain).  Some participating institutions include the Smithsonian Institution and the Internet Archive, as well as many state and national libraries, archives and historical societies.  In 2021, Flickr launched the Flickr Foundation to properly preserve and care for the Flickr Commons archive.

The Noun Project

The Noun Project features simple icons for visual communication, most of which can be used for free with attribution under Creative Commons.  Users can also buy a license to use images and icons without attribution.

UNC-Chapel Hill Multimedia Library

For images from the UNC campus and events held on the campus, this resource is perfect.  You must register to use the service.  There is an AI component you can use to find images that match your search criteria.

Pixabay

Pixabay is a searchable, free stock photo, videos, and music website.  All contents are released under the Pixabay License, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist - even for commercial purposes.

US Government Agencies

All images created by federal agencies in the US are considered public domain, and can be used for free without attribution.  Some agencies with easily searchable collections include:

  • Library of Congress This website is especially good for finding images of famous Americans throughout history. Tip: visit the Digital Collections page to refine your search by topic or to select the format type of interest.
  • US Department of Agriculture (USDA) The USDA has many good photos of food, agriculture, and people involved with either. While many images are available throughout the USDA website, this collection is less searchable than the USDA Flickr Photostream.
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) NASA has many images of space exploration, astronauts, and telescope images available in their media gallery. NASA also has a Flickr PhotostreamTip:  hover over the Galleries tab in the menu for links to the image libraries and video collections available.  There is also information on usage rights and copyright in the menu drop down.

Video

List of films in the public domain in the US

A wikipedia list of American films currently in the public domain. Note that underlying rights may still apply; that is, a film in the public domain may be based on a work that is not in the public domain, and thus may still need permission to use the film.

National Archives and Records Administration, Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Unit

The National Archives is a governmental agency that maintains the permanent records of the federal government.

Pexels Free Stock Videos

Pexels is a free stock asset website. It contains photos as well as videos.

Pixabay

Pixabay is a searchable, free stock photo, videos, and music website.  All contents are released under the Pixabay License, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist - even for commercial purposes.

Media & Design Center Staff

The Media & Design Center staff are available to answer your questions on using equipment, finding films, and creating posters or podcasts!  

Need instruction for your students in the Adobe Creative Suite or WordPress? We can help!

Contact:

Media & Design Center
Undergraduate Library
CB# 3942
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
919-962-2559

Copyright and Fair Use

Please follow all laws concerning the use of audio, video, and images.  If you are unsure, please refer to our list of resources for copyright and fair use of materials.

UNC Logos

UNC Creative has downloadable images and branding to give your projects a UNC look and feel.  If you need the logo for your specific department/school, contact the main office in that department/school.  Please note that you must follow the guidelines set by UNC Creative when using the UNC branding.  For more information visit https://identity.unc.edu/

Lorem Ipsum

Need some text to fill out space in your design?  These lorem ipsum generators can help and make your design more fun!