I had a couple of posts previously on using government data and images and that is true of the US government but may or may not be true of other country’s data and images.

One word of caution about Googling public domain images. That relies on the person posting the image accurately identifying them as being in the public domain. I can tell you many so called public domain images found through Google are in fact not in the public domain. They may have been posted due to fair use clause in copyright law and then been copied. Research an image beyond what Google search says to be sure.

Googling “Public domain images” will also get you a great list of links that will take you to copyright free images.

Don’t forget, too, any US Federal Government document, including photos and images, are Public Domain. http://usasearch.gov/ is a terrific place to go.

As you say, you’ve got to do your research to ensure you’re not infringing. There’s a staggering amount of Public Domain stuff out there, though.

“Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.”

It is the publication date that needs to be before 1923 not the date the photo was taken.

Best,
Mike