What Is The Penalty For Not Properly Attributing A Photo?

24 replies
Im not sure if many of you know this but, I guess you are supposed to attribute a photo that you intend to use even if the author does not specify that he or she requires attribution...

Marking/Users - CC Wiki

I don't see what is wrong with simply hyperlinking the photo back to the person who made it...

Honestly the way that CC says you need to attribute is complete non-sense. How do they expect you to write out a line of text this fat underneath a photo:

"My Awesome Photo," © 2009 Greg Grossmeier, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license
I guess my real question here is... Who comes after you?

If the owner of the picture truly does not care, then what does it matter how you attribute? Almost all the photos I use have no specifications from the author as to how you should attribute to them.

I don't even see how you could get into a legally binding situation by simply linking back to the author. That seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Do any of you guys know more about this? :confused:
#attributing #penalty #photo #properly
  • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
    Originally Posted by snowcloud View Post

    I guess my real question here is... Who comes after you?
    The Cyber Police, of course.

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  • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
    It depends on where you are getting your photos from. For example, I often use photoxpress.com. Their licence is not a creative commons licence. They have their own licence agreement which doesn't, as far as I'm aware, require attribution.

    If someone has chosen to make their work available under a creative commons licence, then it seems fair to abide by the terms.

    Where you are you getting your photos from? What does your source say about licencing and attribution?
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    • Profile picture of the author snowcloud
      Originally Posted by rosetrees View Post

      It depends on where you are getting your photos from. For example, I often use photoxpress.com. Their licence is not a creative commons licence. They have their own licence agreement which doesn't, as far as I'm aware, require attribution.

      If someone has chosen to make their work available under a creative commons licence, then it seems fair to abide by the terms.

      Where you are you getting your photos from? What does your source say about licencing and attribution?
      I find a lot of my photos using compfight.com and just browsing under "commercial license"

      I also get them from commons.wikimedia.org

      Compfight by the way is a search tool for Flickr.

      I just don't see what is wrong with linking the image to the location for where I got it..
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      • Profile picture of the author JimDucharme
        Originally Posted by snowcloud View Post

        I find a lot of my photos using compfight.com and just browsing under "commercial license"

        I also get them from commons.wikimedia.org

        Compfight by the way is a search tool for Flickr.

        I just don't see what is wrong with linking the image to the location for where I got it..
        Legal advice from a forum isn't the best idea. Now, there are some skilled legal people on here, but even they will caution you regarding this. It doesn't matter what you think is right or wrong, because you won't be the one sending the lawyers in . Flickr, as mentioned is a great place to get photos and there's even a plugin for this kind of thing for WP. You can read up on it here.

        Hope that helps.

        Regards,
        jim
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        • Profile picture of the author snowcloud
          Originally Posted by JimDucharme View Post

          Legal advice from a forum isn't the best idea.

          Lol... So true..

          I guess I'm just trippin because, I think it is ridiculous to write something next to the photo when you can link it back to the author.
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          • Profile picture of the author JimDucharme
            Originally Posted by snowcloud View Post

            Lol... So true..

            I guess I'm just trippin because, I think it is ridiculous to write something next to the photo when you can link it back to the author.
            I can understand. Often my wife comes home and finds me stuck in a corner banging my head against the wall. She gently turns me around, checks my batteries and then walks me into the hall closet -- a happy marriage by any definition.

            However, consider how you would feel if it was your picture. You wouldn't want to have someone use your hardwork without credit, so why shouldn't a photog expect the same credit? Walk a mile in the other guy's shoes or in this case, berkenstocks .

            Regards,
            jim
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      • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
        Originally Posted by snowcloud View Post

        .....

        I just don't see what is wrong with linking the image to the location for where I got it..
        Yes you do, you've posted the link that tells us all what the real requirements of using a creative commons licensed product are!

        Also, text is immediately visible - viewers can see where you got the picture from. Few will actually click on the picture to see where it came from.

        Edit: This is what wikimedia says about using their photos
        For any non-text media, you agree to comply with whatever license under which the work has been made available (which can be discovered by clicking on the work and looking at the licensing section on its description page or reviewing an applicable source page for that work).
        If you don't like their rules, I guess you should find photos elsewhere
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  • Profile picture of the author Halcyon
    Does it say that the attribution has to be right under the photo? I suggest creating an attribution page listing your sources. Similar to a works cited or bibliography page.

    You can create a "footnote" under each photo that links to your attribution page.
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    • Profile picture of the author snowcloud
      Originally Posted by Halcyon View Post

      Does it say that the attribution has to be right under the photo? I suggest creating an attribution page listing your sources. Similar to a works cited or bibliography page.

      You can create a "footnote" under each photo that links to your attribution page.
      Damn this is a very good idea..

      However, it still requires text under the photo.. I could essentially link the photo to a works cited page, but then I would just assume link the photo back to the author..:p
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  • Profile picture of the author snowcloud
    I understand where you guys are coming from.. And I totally feel for the people taking these pictures..

    But my question is what are the penalties and, who has to be the one to come after me for this?.. If it is the authors themselves then I am truly not trippin on it..

    If they take a picture and licence it under a commercial CC license, they are already assuming it is going to be used.. Furthermore if they aren't even going to bother to ask for attribution, that just means they truly don't care about it.. Which also means they are not going to go out of their way to sue me for having their picture on my site that links back to their profile..

    Do you see where im coming from?

    I just want to know who is it that has to be the one to come at me legally...
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    • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
      I just want to know who is it that has to be the one to come at me legally...
      Do you realize what you are saying?

      You are saying you prefer not to abide by the terms people set for using their photos, as long as there are no legal consequences for you in disrespecting their terms.

      In other words, you want to know whether or not you are likely to get caught if you do what you have acknowledged you know is the wrong thing here.

      All I am doing here is rewording what you have said so you can ponder whether this is the kind of thing you want to be known for.

      Marcia Yudkin
      Signature
      Check out Marcia Yudkin's No-Hype Marketing Academy for courses on copywriting, publicity, infomarketing, marketing plans, naming, and branding - not to mention the popular "Marketing for Introverts" course.
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      • Profile picture of the author snowcloud
        Originally Posted by marciayudkin View Post

        Do you realize what you are saying?

        You are saying you prefer not to abide by the terms people set for using their photos, as long as there are no legal consequences for you in disrespecting their terms.

        In other words, you want to know whether or not you are likely to get caught if you do what you have acknowledged you know is the wrong thing here.

        All I am doing here is rewording what you have said so you can ponder whether this is the kind of thing you want to be known for.

        Marcia Yudkin
        You guys are taking this in totally the wrong way...

        Put yourself in the shoes of the author of a photo..

        You have the option to choose any license you like for your photo but, you choose commercial CC which means you do not give a damn if people copy and resell it... Then you neglect to even mention that you would like to be attributed to..

        That train of thought is leading me to believe you truly don't care how I attribute to your photo.. Furthermore.. You would be totally happy to see me actually link back to your profile with your photo on my site..

        A reasonable person would not click though their own photo on somebody elses site, have it redirect them to their profile and then go "I am about to go out of my way to sue this person because they did not properly attribute to me even though I did not even ask to be attributed too!!!!"

        I am only thinking reasonably about it...

        Any common person is not going to get pissed off with that enough to ball up and hire a laywer..
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        • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
          Any common person is not going to get pissed off with that enough to ball up and hire a laywer..
          I guess the words "ethics," "following the rules" and "responsibility" are not in your vocabulary.

          You keep asking whether or not you can get away with something that is contrary to the stated terms of service.

          Marcia Yudkin
          Signature
          Check out Marcia Yudkin's No-Hype Marketing Academy for courses on copywriting, publicity, infomarketing, marketing plans, naming, and branding - not to mention the popular "Marketing for Introverts" course.
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        • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
          Originally Posted by snowcloud View Post


          You have the option to choose any license you like for your photo but, you choose commercial CC which means you do not give a damn if people copy and resell it... ..
          .....or you just might just have chosen the CC licence because you know it means that people should leave a proper attribution. What makes you think people choose it because they don't give a damn?
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  • Profile picture of the author Will Edwards
    Getty Images come after you!

    Will
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  • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
    You're just trying to rationalize reasons to justify referring, or not referring, to a picture based on what you want to do without complying with the license.

    These are pictures created by someone else. They have specified terms for the use of their pictures (the license). If you violate the terms you may be liable for copyright infringement. Possible repercussions include a lawsuit, injunctive order, damages, statutory damages, and attorney's fees.

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author snowcloud
    Taken into account what you guys are saying.. I completely understand how you feel. It isn't following the rules to simply link back to that persons profile..

    But I think you guys are missing the point I am tryn to make..

    There are millions upon millions of unproperly credited pictures rummaging around the web.. Some of which do not give any attribution or link back to the author at all..

    I am offering a link back to the author.. and since starting this thread I have also thought up a new idea for it..

    How about writting out the proper attribution inside the hover over title of the image.. That way you could see the attribution as soon as you hover on the image and, it will also link you back to their profile..

    Now that seems completely ethical and responsible to me..

    I guess the words "ethics," "following the rules" and "responsibility" are not in your vocabulary.
    Like I said, you guys are looking at this from the completely wrong perspective.. I am trying to credit the author as much as possible without dedicating lines of text outside the picture for it....

    So my question to you is now...

    If you were the author of a commercial CC photo and, you hadn't specified how you wanted to be attributed to, would you sue me for having put your photo on my site, linked back to you with it and had the title info for that photo clearly state your name and the license you gave??

    If you say yes to that you are straight up lying because, nobody would waste there time hiring a lawyer for something so benign and respectful..
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    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      Originally Posted by snowcloud View Post


      If you say yes to that you are straight up lying because, nobody would waste there time hiring a lawyer for something so benign and respectful..
      Oh - I don't bother with lawyers. I just send DMCA notices to web hosts. It usually works.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    There was a guy here several months ago who was under the impression that just mentioning the photographer was enough. Turned out the photographer no longer owned the image, a big company with an agressive legal division owned the image and they were suing the guy for $16,000. Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author snowcloud
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      There was a guy here several months ago who was under the impression that just mentioning the photographer was enough. Turned out the photographer no longer owned the image, a big company with an agressive legal division owned the image and they were suing the guy for $16,000. Good luck.



      Well.. That totally changes the game then doesn't it..

      I would like to thank you all for replying.. It was actually very helpful seeing what everybody else had to say about it. I guess I was being selfish in assuming that I should base my decision around aesthetics. I can be very picky about that kind of stuff..

      I have one that question for you all..

      How in the world do you know who truly owns that photo? :confused:
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      • Profile picture of the author David Keith
        Originally Posted by snowcloud View Post





        How in the world do you know who truly owns that photo? :confused:
        this can be a bit more tricky. I suggest you only buy photos from reputable sites and follow all their terms of use for each photo.

        You also need to keep detailed records for your purchases. Basically if someone sold you something they had no right to sell, YOU are still liable for using the photo, but you may also have legal options against the seller you bought it from.

        i got into a situation several years back before all this lawsuit over images was as aggressive as it is now. surprisingly it was with getty images..lol

        Basically, i paid a develop to build a site. He bought an image from a source that didn't have the right to sell the image. Getty images owned the rights.

        So really, neither me nor my developer actually did anything wrong in terms of actually trying to steal photos. However, i got a letter from the getty images attorney demanding 8K. after we explained the situation, they were reasonable and we just paid $500 for legal fees. Plus my lawyer fees.

        It cost me close to 1k.

        using images is not something to mess around with.
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        • Profile picture of the author snowcloud
          Originally Posted by David Keith View Post


          It cost me close to 1k.

          using images is not something to mess around with.
          See.. This is just making want to have a blank a$$ text filled website now
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  • Profile picture of the author yesook
    same here i would send a dmca letter to your host in a heart beat i would not even give you a heads up.
    so you should ask your self do you want to chance having your hosting account blocked.
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