How do I credit a Flickr photo licensed for commercial use?

July 29, 2013 6:03 AM

Help me know exactly how to give credit to photos I want to use on my blog.

I've been using advanced Google Image Search to find photos for my blog and searching under the option for photos labeled for commercial use. I'm starting to find some better photos on Flickr and I've been searching for ones labeled with "creative commons licensed content for commercial use."

My question is about the entire process because I want to give credit where credit is due. So I download this image and then use it for my blog. For instance, I'm using Tumblr, do I just put the link to the original photo underneath or something? How do I go about doing this?

Thanks!

posted by modoriculous to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

You can either credit directly under the photo in a small caption or add a list of images used at the end. I think the former option is more of an explicit credit, and is more friendly to the photographer. The latter option is more friendly to your site layout. As a photographer, I'd be far happier with the direct credit.
posted by Magnakai at 6:10 AM on July 29, 2013

There's no one "correct" way, but CC offers several examples of appropriate ways to attribute CC-licensed work.
posted by ook at 6:12 AM on July 29, 2013

I usually credit in the caption by writing something like "photo by modoriculous, via flickr". I wish I were less lazy and linked to their account in the caption, but I usually don't because I'm a jerk. And, anyway, IMO the point is to clarify that I did not take and do not own the picture, and state whose work it is. Not to offer free publicity for their flickr account. Even if I were using a photo under full traditional copyright, I still wouldn't be required to link to the photographer's website.
posted by Sara C. at 6:49 AM on July 29, 2013

Sara C > Even if I were using a photo under full traditional copyright, I still wouldn't be required to link to the photographer's website.

That's not completely correct. The right to demand attribution may not legally extend to how the attribution has to be performed, but the CC license does state that:

When You Distribute or publicly perform the Work or any Derivative Work or Collection You must provide, in a manner reasonable to the medium or means You are using:
(...)
to the extent reasonably practicable, any Uniform Resource Identifier (such as a web link) that the Licensor specifies should be associated with the Work that refers to the copyright notice or licensing information for the Work.

Which means that if, on my Flickr pages, I ask that attribution for a photo be performed via a link to that page, you must provide a link to that page if publishing online, and/or print that url if publishing my photo on paper.

You may not want to do that. Then you are in violation of the license, and do not have the permission to publish my photo. I don't have money to chase you with a lawyer, etc. But you would be required to perform the link.

Not many people request that attribution be performed via link. However, I think it's the right thing to do, even when it's not asked for. So what I would do is to put a discreet link to the Flickr photo page, and in the text of that link write: "Photo by personsname personssurname" if such identifying information is evident, or else "Photo by Flickr user flickrname" if it's not.
posted by kandinski at 7:08 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Okay, so I think I'm going to put a hyperlink under the phot like kandinski said:

"Photo by username"

Anyone know a good way to do this in Tumblr or do I literally just need to put in a text line under the photo? This looks awkward so I was wondering if there is another way to do it since I want people to just see the text I've written under the photo.
posted by modoriculous at 7:23 AM on July 29, 2013

Is the entry on your tumblr just the image? If so, the Flickr interface makes it easy to blog an image and include title, tags, description, link back, etc. It'd be worth making a Flickr account and linking it up with your tumblr just to do that.

For non-tumblr pages Flickr also has an option for sharing called 'Grab the HTML/BBCode' which produces everything you need to just copy/paste and have the image appear in your chosen dimensions with links back and everything.

As a photographer it irks me to no end to have one of my photos used and have no link back to the source. Sorry, Sara C., but yeah, that does make you a jerk. How is it someone's photo can be so important and appropriate that you absolutely need to use it but so inconsequential that you can't be bothered to mark up one tiny link? When I find my work 'attributed' in such a slack fashion I'm always happy to email the user and request a change.

modoriculous, I personally am satisfied with:

[image]
Photo by Kevin O'Mara

where the text 'Photo by Kevin O'Mara' is a link back to the specific Flickr page for that image, not just my Flickr account. I consider that appropriate attribution. Far less good is one like this. Sure, it's attribution but what if someone wants to see that image in a larger size? Guess they have to search my entire photostream.

Long story short you're using someone's content for free, content that they've provided for you with zero obligation to do so. The polite thing to do is provide clear and direct attribution. Thank you for being concerned enough to ask about the right way to do it.
posted by komara at 9:03 AM on July 29, 2013

How is it someone's photo can be so important and appropriate that you absolutely need to use it but so inconsequential that you can't be bothered to mark up one tiny link?

Because it's not the standard for any other form of citation, on anything else, ever?

Unless I'm basing an entire blog post around another online thing that you basically can't understand my thing without reading, I probably won't link it just as a cite. I'll... cite it. Like you do. When you want to give credit where credit is due.

There's a difference between "hey everybody go look at this cool thing on the internet" and a citation. If I really love your work so much that I think all my readers need to go check it out, I'll definitely link to it. If I just needed a picture of a salt packet and found one in your flickr feed because it happened to show up at the top of my search, I'll cite it rather than linking it. Because that's what citing is.
posted by Sara C. at 9:09 AM on July 29, 2013

Because that's what citing is.

Which is great if you're writing something on paper, but this is the Internet. The entire point of formatting things in HTML is to be able to add links. Not only are there dozens of tools that make it easier for you to do, it's simply courteous.

I can't believe for a second that you don't actually understand the utility of hyperlinks. I mean I doubt you're using a photocopier and a typewriter to create missives that you send to your friends through the postal service, so why not implement the technology in the way that it was intended?

"That's the way it's always done" is rarely the best reason to keep doing something. Okay, fine, if you, Sara C., are saying you're writing for academic publications with strict style manuals or something, great. I get it. But if you're talking about a blog you're writing for yourself then I literally can not think of a single good reason not to provide a full link in your attribution.
posted by komara at 9:39 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Mod note: This needs to not turn into a general argument about citation/linking/etc practice or preferences.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:01 AM on July 29, 2013

So... you're both right, depending on the particular license used. From the CC FAQ I linked above (emphasis mine, some not-relevant-to-this-discussion points omitted) all CC attributions should:

* Cite the author's name, screen name, user identification, etc. It is nice to link that name to the person's profile page, if such a page exists.
* Cite the work's title or name, if such a thing exists. It is nice to link the name or title directly to the original work.
* Cite the specific CC license the work is under, and link to the specific CC license

In the case where a copyright holder does choose to specify the manner of attribution [...]

* They may require that you attribute the work to a certain name, pseudonym or even an organization of some sort.
* They may require you to associate/provide a certain URL (web address) for the work.

So assuming that Sara C. is only using CC-licensed items that do not specify a manner of attribution, she's doing it correctly (but in CC's own words, isn't being nice.) Assuming that komara is specifying a manner of attribution for his work and requires a link, those using his work must include it. (How do you know if a manner of attribution is required for a given item? Read the license.)

In any case simply linking "Photo by username" is insufficient, as you must include a link to the relevant CC license.
posted by ook at 10:11 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]