Copyright and Terms of Use

TL;DR Version: You are free to download and use any of the images in this collection. Most (if not all) of the AI-generated images can be used for any purpose. The photographs are available under various Creative Commons licenses (as indicated by the file name, see below). Some of the photographs cannot be used for commercial purposes or printed in a book for sale (NC terms). Some cannot be modified and redistributed (ND terms) and many require that modifications are also distributed under the same license (SA terms). Most of the photographs require, at least, attribution to the original photographer, who is also named in the file name. (BY terms) You cannot simply copy the photos to your site or project–you need to add a label or caption that correctly attributes the original creator and indicates the license terms. Please refer to this best practices page for more information. Of course, we always appreciate a link back to this site when you use our images, but that isn’t required unless indicated in the license for the individual file.

See here for instructions on downloading / synchronizing the collection.

Many of these images have been created with generative AI, including DALL-E, MidJourney, GenCraft, and others. Many have also been collated from other users on MidJourney, Flickr, and Wikipedia, as well as contributions from pastors and Bible teachers. If we have included images that shouldn’t be here, please feel free to message us using our contact form.

As it stands now (2023) copyright law in the US only applies to works of “human creation.” Since AI art is generated by a machine with very limited human input, courts have ruled that such art cannot be subject to copyright law. Of course, there is still ongoing debate in this area, such as whether the “prompts” used to create the art are copyright-able, or even whether the process of building AI models from copyrighted material could itself be infringing.

That said, it seems that most images generated entirely by AI can be freely used and distributed without the legal minefield that plagued the use of much recent Christian art. (We must point out that we are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice.)

Note that, in regards to the AI generated art in this collection, some files are marked as “CC0” (or other Creative Commons license) to indicate that we have explicit permission from creator/prompt writer to distribute these. Those without a license tag in the filename are assumed to be free based on the arguments above, but are not used here with the explicit permission of the creator(s).

More Disclaimers

The pictures in this collection are provided to you as a resource, but not as a finished teaching product. Many of these images, in their current form, may not be suitable for a general audience. Besides often distorted or misshapen bodies (a common symptom of AI generated images), there could be cases of indecent clothing or otherwise generally inappropriate images showing up in the collection. If you come across these, please kindly let us know.

Some pictures here are of excellent quality for full-screen images, while others may only be suitable for smaller illustrations. While we do our best to keep the images of the highest quality, we ask that you be responsible and selective in the use of the images. If you notice problems, please send a message to Pastor Daniel.

The photographs in the collection come from a variety of sources and represent a diversity of religious history. We hope they will be useful as teaching aids, but obviously many represent religious traditions that differ widely from our Adventist beliefs. There are many helpful resources available online and in print, which can be extremely helpful in placing these pictures in their historical and geographical context.

Licensing

The content in this collection is made available under a variety of licenses. Files generated by AI are prefixed with the following words indicating their source:

  • MidJourney
  • Gencraft
  • Bing Image (DALL-E Image Generator from Microsoft Bing)

According to our understanding, these AI images are generally not subject to copyright law and can be used for any purpose without an explicit license.

Other files in this collection should include a tag in the filename indicating the relevant license, as below. Most require, at least, attribution to the creator, who is named at the end of the file name.