When to Give Credit for Photos, S'caps, Etc

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JudyB
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When to Give Credit for Photos, S'caps, Etc

Post by JudyB » Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:34 am

The quick summary here is - if you're posting any images you didn't take yourself or any text you didn't write, it's always a good idea to give credit to the person/organization/whatever that did the initial work, even if there's not a legal requirement to do so.

The rest of this thread will get into the details, with this opening post as an index.

Please feel free to add questions, comments, and suggestions - with the understanding that I may remove the discussion at some point (or may not - this is a work in progress, and we'll see how it goes).

Topics
Photographers Own Their Work
Posting Screenshots from Wildlife Cams
Use of Screenshots and Videos from HWF Cams

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JudyB
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Re: When to Give Credit for Photos, S'caps, Etc

Post by JudyB » Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:34 am

Photographers Own Their Work

All photographs (and videos) are assumed to be copyrighted and can only be posted here with permission of the photographer - even if they don't have a copyright mentioned.

Note: - works are automatically copyright the photographer so unless otherwise noted (by something such as a Creative Commons license or other extra-copyright license on the page/site or noted by the photographer) there is no right by anyone to copy the photo or use it in any way except to personally view it.

This is also true of videos or any other way of sharing something you're seeing in person.

So - unless there is a specific license and terms mentioned where the original photo is, it is off limits to copying without permission. (Providing a link to something on a public site is fine.)

The actual rules on things like "Fair Use" and "Fair Dealing" change from country to country and, while they do enter into things like "collage" in the US - the % of the collage that an image forms, and the number of images from a single source all weigh (in this case) against this being a defense.

So even pictures and videos that aren't explicitly copyrighted should not be posted here without permission.

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Re: When to Give Credit for Photos, S'caps, Etc

Post by JudyB » Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:34 am

Posting Screenshots from Wildlife Cams

The previous post deals primarily with photographs and videos taken in person; the rules for screenshots are different.

First, the person taking a screenshot from a live streaming cam does not own the image the way they would if they took a picture of an eagle live and in person. Most of the time, the images being streamed belong to the organization/person with the camera, and there are often some rules about how they can be used.

Our Hancock Wildlife Foundation camera streams and other information on our website and this forum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License (more details in the next post). And that's true of a number of other organizations with cams. There are some organizations that require people to add a copyright line if they post a picture from one of their cams, and other organizations don't have any particular rules - though it's courteous to include the name/logo of the sponsoring organization even if there isn't a legal requirement.

Most of us occasionally crop an image in a way that removes the identifying data (for instance, to make a little pip more obvious without clicking the screenshot larger) and that's generally fine as long as it's clear from the post or series of posts which camera it's from. If the owner of a camera specifies that all screenshots must include their logo/info - then you need to include it.


Next, if you find a particularly great screenshot taken by someone else and want to use it for something you're posting, you're required to credit the owner of the cam as explained above, and it is courteous and good practice to credit the person who got the screenshot. If it's a basic screenshot, it's probably not legally required to give credit to the person who got the capture - if nothing else, the fact that dozens or thousands of people might have taken the same screenshot makes enforcement near impossible. I showed gemini a draft copy of this, and the first thing she mentioned is that there have been dozens of times over the years when she's taken a screenshot and gone to post it only to discover that someone else got the same shot and posted it first - in which case she wouldn't post hers, but might use it for a project - and I've done the same thing a number of times. That said, if I'm sharing a screenshot I didn't take to our Facebook page, I normally say something like "HWF forum member X captured this great image of ...."

Videos, collages, and enhanced screenshots (beyond tweaking brightness, contrast, etc) require credit, both to the owner of the cam and to the person who did the work - and in most circumstances I can think of, you should have the permission of the creator to use them; if you can't get permission, you can provide a link to where the person posted their work. (In theory, an unedited video taken directly from the cam may be similar to a basic screenshot, but since it generally must be uploaded on someone's page, it's my belief that morally if not legally they should be given credit.)


Finally, you really can't go wrong by giving more credit or thanks than is legally required. The world is a stressful place at times, and your kind words may help someone more than you'll ever know. :love:

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Re: When to Give Credit for Photos, S'caps, Etc

Post by JudyB » Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:34 am

Use of Screenshots and Videos from HWF Cams

Unless otherwise noted, our live streams and the information on our website and this forum are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License. In non-technical terms, that means people can share the images and videos as long as they credit Hancock Wildlife - and don't use the images to make money. Most of our cams say HWF in the corner, and people mostly note (for example) that it's a picture from the HWF Surrey Reserve nest, and we're fine with that.

A more detailed explanation is available from Creative Commons here - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/ - and for those who want something more technical, there's a link there to the actual license.

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Re: When to Give Credit for Photos, S'caps, Etc

Post by JudyB » Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:35 am

Reserved

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Re: When to Give Credit for Photos, S'caps, Etc

Post by JudyB » Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:24 pm

Reserved

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