Canva and copyright: what you need to know
Canva is a free, easy-to-use, online graphic design tool that has done nothing but grow in popularity over the past several years. As it is being used more and more by everyone in the Deakin community, questions have been popping up in the Copyright team’s inbox. Below are the answers to some of the most common copyright-related questions about Canva.
Can I use Canva’s in-platform content in my project, and how do I attribute them if I can?
The good news is that the answer is YES! The free-to-use content within Canva can be used for any purpose and does not even require an attribution. It is best practice to attribute even when you do not have to, though. Additionally, your academic integrity obligations may insist on attribution as well.
When attributing free-to-use content within Canva, you need to hover your mouse over the image when it is in the menu and press on the three dots. The information that appears will tell you about the creator and if it has come from an external site, such as Pixabay in the example below.
Click on the i with a circle around it to get more information about the licence. Follow the links to find the image’s information page. You should then have everything you need to create an attribution for the image. Here is how the animal tracks image in the screenshot above should be attributed:
Animal Track Illustration by ExoticShorthair used under Pixabay License
How about using Canva Pro?
You can also use Canva Pro content in any of your projects, but you must always attribute it as the license states you cannot take credit for the work. Not including an attribution would imply you were the creator. If your project has a Creative Commons licence, make it clear that the Canva Pro content is not part of it.
Where should I put the attributions?
Somewhere that makes it clear what the attribution is referring to. Some examples of where attributions can go are:
- in the caption of an image
- somewhere near the content that was used
- at the bottom of the page
- in the footnotes
- at the end of the chapter/section
- at the end of the video/presentation.
If you need more information about copyright obligations when using Canva or other graphic design tools, check out our handy LibGuide. You can also send an email to the copyright team ([email protected]) whenever you need support using third-party content, no matter who you are or what your project is.