Do I need to give a source or attribution for my own original photos?

1. 61

   Audrey Dawnposted 12 years ago

   
   Hi all,
   
   I'm new and still getting the hang of how we do things here at HubPages. Even after going through the Learning Center, there are still some things I'm a little confused about. To begin with, I recently got feedback from another hubber who pointed out that I didn't list any source or attribution for the photos in my hubs.  This person mentioned that this was a very serious problem that needed to be corrected right away. 
   
   I think this person did not realize that all my photos are my own work. Photography is a bit of a hobby of mine and I didn't have to go far to take pictures relating to my topics.  I care for my disabled mother, so I'm starting out by writing hubs about dealing with the stress and demands of being the primary care provider of someone dealing with serious health problems. I took some pictures of pill containers, pill bottles, and even my dirty dishes and laundry to show folks they really are not alone if they too struggle to keep up with it all.
   
   Since these pictures are all my own work, at first I didn't think I needed to give any source or attribution, but now I just feel like I really don't know what I'm doing... and my head hurts. Ugh. Please help me out here. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

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      livewithrichardposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Technically, all photos should have some form of attribution to give credit to the copyright holder.  It is not a requirement, only good manners.  Even though you are the copyright holder, you should probably put the proper attribution.  There are too many thieves online and if they scrape and steal your content then they may even scrape the attribution to your photos which will give Google further evidence that the content belongs to you...

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   janderson99posted 12 years ago

   The Hub of the Day has No Attribution for images. It was published in Aug 12.

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      livewithrichardposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Haha that's funny since Simone just mentioned recently that having properly attributed pictures was one of the requirements for HOTD so they could prove ownership... Again... just talk without any substance...

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3. 77

   wildernessposted 12 years ago

   I use a great number of photos on my hubs, the large majority of which are my own.
   
   During the AP program I attributed those photos to "wilderness" with no license or URL given.  No one complained.

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      livewithrichardposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Self attribution is just as good as any.

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         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That's what I thought, and apparently we were both right.

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   leahleflerposted 12 years ago

   I usually just put "©leahlefler, all rights reserved," under my photos.

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      2uesdayposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Can I ask if adding 'photo/copyright 2uesday's' is as useful/successful as adding the copyright symbol?
      I have never been sure of the best way of attributing my own images.
      
      I am interested in thoughts on this too: when you attribute a public domain image is it best policy to add it as a live or non-live link?  My instinct is not to have it as a live link as it is an invitation to exit the page.

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   gawinemakerposted 12 years ago

   I took the photo for my second hub. Under source, I wrote "Photo by the author".

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6. 77

   derek gulbransonposted 12 years ago

   You are not required to cite or properly attribute the source of your photos in order to publish a Hub. You are required by law to only publish photos that you have to right to publish, and there are many ways to easily attain those rights.
   
   However, in order for HubPages to showcase your work through one of our many contests (Hub of the Day, etc), HubPages wants to verify that you have the legal right to use those photos. If you do not provide proper photo attribution, then we have no idea where your photos came from and that work will be dropped from consideration without you knowing it was even being considered. So photos without attribution guarantees you will not win any awards. We love to highlight Hubs where authors have taken the time to include their own original photos, so improper photo attribution would be both your loss and ours.
   
   For your own work, you really just need to tell us it's your own work. "Copyright myusername" should be enough to let us know that.
   
   (In some rare cases when there is a dearth of Hubs with proper photo attribution we may have used other means to verify legal use of photos for HOTD.)

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      livewithrichardposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Explain what means those would be...  I think that was a little disingenuous as you realized yesterdays HOTD had no attributions on its photos...

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         derek gulbransonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I can definitely tell you that's what we're looking for. I meant to admit that sometimes we can't find them. Sorry you found it disingenuous, livewithrichard. Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word rare when it just happened yesterday, thanks for pointing that out. To answer the original poster's question more directly, she does not "need" to but we'd very much like to encourage her to. It's not illegal to not publish photos without citation but it makes validating that the photo is indeed at least claimed to be not stolen much easier.

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      Audrey Dawnposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I really appreciate all the information.  Just one last followup question. After the first couple replies I went back and changed my pictures to say "Source: Audrey Dawn."  From what you're saying, though, would it be better to have my photos say "Copyright Audrey Dawn" or does it not really matter?  Thanks so much for taking the time to clarify!

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         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Technically, it doesn't matter - your material is copyrighted whether you say so or not.
         
         I could conceivably make a newbie to the web back off from copying it, simply because they don't know any better, but that's all.

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            derek gulbransonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Copyright makes it more clear that you don't intend to contribute the work to the public domain. Depends if you care I guess.
            
            True, under US copyright law anything you create is automatically copyright "you" the moment you create it, even a sketch on the back of a napkin, no need to put a copyright mark on it or do anything special. You loose your copyright if you do not "enforce" it, and that's where the lawyers get involved. If you actually care, best to avoid any shadow of doubt of your intentions.
            
            (I tend to think people care too often. I'm sorry but that photo of a flower that you took with your camera phone is never going to be worth enough money to warrant getting lawyers involved, no matter what Instagram filters you apply to it.)
            
            Making it clear that other's are allowed use your images, either via CC license or public domain, could be one more reason for someone to visit your Hub.

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               wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               That's the way I see it - putting a notice on reinforces that it is yours, but doesn't add anything legally.
               
               I've had a handful of readers ask to use my photos, and I've always given permission.  I won't earn from them anyway, and it just might get my name out there a little bit.

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   silverbergposted 12 years ago

   same i'm a newbie in HubPages

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8. 60

   FatFreddysCatposted 12 years ago

   I've used my own photos in several of my Hubs and I credit them as "Source: Me." Seems to be working fine so far.

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   qasimexpertposted 12 years ago

   No, you have no need to give source or attribution for your own pics.

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      joanveronicaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Did you read the entire thread for this forum? The parts in yellow are the voice of a Hubpages official. Maybe you should read it all carefully.

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         cascolyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         did YOU read it?  the first line says "You are not required to cite or properly attribute the source of your photos in order to publish a Hub. "
         
         so no need;  recommended, certainly

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