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If graphic design was like the movies every brochure would need an extra couple of pages at the back. Just think, at the end of every movie everyone from the top movie stars down to the person who made the coffee gets a credit. If in the graphic design world we took a leaf out of their book, there would be the designer, the printer, the paper supplier, the ink supplier, the photographer……. down to the shop where you bought your layout pad.
This leads to a question I received by email from from Lauren Marie Krause:
I have a question for you and I would love to see you turn it into a post. How much original artwork (photos, illustrations, elements, etc) needs to be in a piece for you to be able to say it’s yours?
In other words, if I use a piece of art from, say, Obsidian Dawn, in a design project, would I still be able to put it in my portfolio and call it mine? Do I have to give her credit every time I show the piece to someone?
I suppose it might depend on how prominent the art/photo in question is and whether or not credit is given to the original author of it? But what about stock photography? I hardly ever see where credit is given to the photographer if I see photos in a brochure or website or something. I feel guilty about using other people’s work, even if they say it’s free for commercial use, like the Obsidian Dawn disclaimer. I don’t think I’ve ever used someone else’s work in my own pieces; if I can’t get a certain photo I want, I’ll composite several others together to create a layout and then illustrate it. But this is very limiting and time consuming! What do you think? How do you handle it? What have you done in the past? Do you give credit? What about with free things?
It’s a question that before Lauren emailed I had never really considered. Personally when I do a design job and use royalty free images (that I have paid a few pounds for) I don’t give a credit to the artist. If I use free images I would avoid any images that require a credit as I know I won’t be able to honour that in my design, as it’s unlikely the client won’t want it.
I don’t have any problem with using royalty free images and not giving credit to the artist, though I would never say that I had produced the photograph or illustration. If you think about it how often as designers a we given a physical credit for our work? I do a lot work through agencies and marketing companies and they certainly don’t want to say that I have done the work, for fear that a client may come directly to me.
If however I was commissioning a photographer or illustrator for a job where it was agreed by the client that I could put a credit for my design on the back of the brochure, I would possibly give them credit too. This however puts you in the same predicament as agencies I work. Do I want my client to know who did their photography and illustration?
How do you decide whether to give credit for another persons work?
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22 Comments
I’m also curious about the legal side of things. I do NOT want to steal other people’s work, even if it’s on accident. I know that copyright laws vary all over the world, but if anyone knows details about how it works, I would love to hear about it.
Like I said above in my email, I’ve always used my own art work, photos, etc, but it can be very limiting. I would love to read advice on how you (readers and Tara) compile all your design resources!
that’s a very interesting question, and I’d love to read what others have to say about it. This is something I was wondering a lot about – when do we have to give a credit?
I’ve seen on many blogs, especially the one talking about celebrities, using their photos without crediting the source – is it actually legal to include a photo of a celebrity on your blog by copying it from another site after doing Google Image search. What if I don’t know the source of the image, or a photo that I’d like to use for my blog or projects: do I credit a site where I found that photo even though it was used there without any credits, or do I just use it because they did the same thing on their site?
This reminds me of when people say they want to be independent, but just how independent can one person be?
If you want to go real deep on the design-front you can even consider the tree surgeons who fell the trees that make the paper, or the forestry commission who decides on what land can be used for paper resources. Even the manufacturers of the chainsaws used to chop down the trees. We’re all interlinked in so many ways and it’s interesting to think about it from time to time.
In the case of your scenario where you commission a photographer for a project, and the artwork doesn’t give credit in writing, I think as long as the photographer is paid what they deserve for the license then there’s no need to show their name. Sure it’s always nice to do, but if your client doesn’t want a third party mention on their promotional material then whatever makes them happy.
If I’m working on my own promotional material, and I use a photograph by someone else, I’ll be sure to add a small line of credit somewhere on the piece. Although if the photo is royalty-free, and no mention is required, I’d like to know what others do in this situation.
I’m with you, Tara, that I’ve no problem using a royalty-free image and not giving credit. The photographer should expect it, and it keeps the design work as clean as possible.
Nice topic, Lauren.
Hi Vivien, David,
The only thing that I worry about image wise is when I am blogging. If I take a screenshot of a website is that in fact image theft? On most occassions when I have used someones work or photos ie. the japanese packaging images, posters etc I try to contact the artist and get permission to show it.
Hmmmm, that’s a good point, Tara.
I’ve often thought that if I’m directing attention to the artist, mentioning them specifically and linking to their site that it’s helping them, but I can imagine some people thinking differently.
Say for instance if someone was to show work from portfolio on their website, I’d be happy as long as they gave credit and linked back.
Have you ever heard from anyone unhappy with a screenshot (etc.) that you’ve used?
I wouldn’t consider website screenshot as an image theft, as long as there’s a link to the source of the screenshot. Like David asked, does anyone ever complain about it?
I know I wouldn’t be upset if someone found my work and wanted to direct people to my website! But then again, I am small and relatively unknown. Perhaps the bigger designers would not like it. I don’t think it’s a problem to use screenshots as long as you are linking back and giving credit. And if the artist/designer contacted you and didn’t like it, then of course, many apologies and the immediate removal of the images would be in order.
Lauren, David, Vivien
No I guess most people are happy about you spreading the word about their work, and of course like you say Lauren, definitely remove it if there they don’t like it.
David, I have never had any complaints about image use – though like I say in some circumstances (when I wanted to show quite a bit of work) I have emailed and got permission from owners to do so.
Lauren going back to your previous point I guess you can never be totally sure you are using an image legally, even the images on some of the cheap royalty free sites may not really be owned by the person claiming them.
Charity has a post on her blog you might want to take a look at about copyright and IP,
Really the only person that should be credited for any design work is the person who is paying for it… the client.
99% of graphic design projects are not works of art (in the same sense movies are), they are pieces of marketing literature. No one has really got any right to have their name on it other than the person or company who is paying for it.
Also I think the original creatives (photographers/illustrators etc) given the choice would generally be happier with a bit of money than being credited – after all that’s why they are doing what they do.
The only time I ever give photo/illustration credit is if it was requested by the artist at the time the rights-managed contract was developed. The whole “royalty-free” thing is based on the hassle of having to make sure that everyone and their mother were credited, model releases were acquired, etc., etc.
The very fact that the artwork is royalty free indicates to us, the designers, that we can use the art without issue and by the same token tells the artist that they won’t be receiving credit. I try to not use the freebie stuff in commercial work, even if the artist says it is allowed, only because I would hate to find an image being used someplace else poorly. Even the use of low-cost stock isn’t without peril.
True story: Once we retained a limited-use license for a particular image (shot locally), and I used it for a cosmetic surgeon’s brochure. A month later we saw the same image used on a huge in-store point of purchase display. We crossed our fingers, hoping the client wouldn’t see it, but of course they did. They called us, claiming that we double-sold the image and soiled their brand, even though we told them in writing that at their budget, stock photos were all we were able to procure. They didn’t believe us and we lost the account.
I think Aaron hits the nail on the head with his distinction between “art” and Graphic Design. I may go even further and say, 100%…
In a marketing brochure it may be feasible to have a page of credits on the inside cover; however, most Graphic Design, owing to its static nature (in contrast to film), would only be spoiled by the addition of credits: imagine a billboard poster or magazine spread accompanied by an exhaustive list of every Tom, Dick and Harry involved.
The use of a screen dump is interesting. I’ve never had anyone complain; however, perhaps that would change if I were to include the screen dump in a piece that was particularly critical of the author. I think the legal use (and I’m no Lawyer) of, say, a screen dump, or even one’s own photo of, say, a billboard ad depends on how it is used. If you are actually using elements of the design within your own, then I you may well be infringing copyright; however, if you are showing the work in it’s entirety (or even a detail), as an example of the designer’s work, then I see no harm in this.
When blogging I think it’s safest and most polite to contact the author and (where art is involved) have a Copyright accompanying the image (it has absolutely no legal weight, but it’s polite).
Aaron, Johno (glad to see you back, been checking your blog, you must be busy) I guess you could call some movies art (others it would be a bit of a stretch
) it still however never ceases to amaze me that everyone, and I mean literally everyone (down to the tea maker) is credited.
How ironic – the anti-spam word is Cinema…
I was reading somewhere recently (although can’t for a life of me remember where) how pointless these credits are and very soon they could be done away with – certainly on television. Because a) no-one reads them, and b) if you did want to read them wouldn’t it make sense to have them online somewhere so at the end of each program/film you just get a web URL rather than 30 seconds to 2 minutes of wasted air time?
but how will they style that URL, that’s the important thing
Ha ha… very funny :p
Interesting conversation…
I really like what Aaron had to say in that the only person who needs credit is the client. The reason any of us – graphics designers, photographers, web designers, etc – want credit is for our self-promotion. There’s really no other reason for it. Do you think the client’s customers really care who took that photo or who designed the website? Not really. Not unless they’re in the market for a service themselves.
I feel that once the project is paid for, the client owns it. Now, it’s up to them to decide what promotion they want to do on their sites.
Yet, do I put credit and links at the bottom of the websites I design. You betcha. As long as the client doesn’t mind (and they usually don’t), I get a little promotion. But truly it’s up to them.
On rights-managed images…I don’t use ‘em. Way too many hoops to jump through. I use royalty-free images a lot. And I know that the photographer has decided to offer the image that way so he/she knows that they’re not going to get credited. Isn’t that sort of an unspoken truth about royalty-free images?
If you think about it for a minute, social media in general is changing the way we think of images. With Flickr and blogging, how we use images is changing. Things are much more open today. And, there’s so many bloggers using images wherever then find them it’s going to be hard to police any sort of restrictions.
I like things being open and without restrictions – as long as the artist gets paid or opts to give their images away freely.
Excellent post Tara and Lauren, and certainly something to seriously consider. I agree with Dawud when it comes to royalty-free… I think it’s pretty much understood that offering royalty-free stock to others for general consumption comes with no credit. If you buy it, or commission it, you shouldn’t have to credit it. David made a good analogy to tree surgeons. I guess architects or construction companies are comparable too… they don’t get their names etched into a house or building just because they fabricated it.
I’m also with Dawud in that I generally include a link to myself in the footer of a client site, but they are never required to leave it there. They paid for the design so really it becomes theirs.
As for celebrity photos or screen shots, the U.S. has what’s called Fair Use. Basically it allows for use of a copyrighted work for certain circumstances such as parodies, criticism or reference. I think most countries have some form of this law, and screen shots would surely fall under it and would not require permission or credit. Not sure about the celebrity photos… it’s a very subjective law.
Thank you guys! It makes me a lot more confident to hear input from experienced designers. They never taught us this stuff in school.
I recently went to a job interview where they were questioning EVERYTHING I did! “Did you take this photo?” “Did you write this copy?” “Was this piece really for that company?” As a recent grad, I don’t have too much professional work, so many of the pieces in my portfolio are “personal projects,” and I have only used one photo that wasn’t my own, which got me thinking about using stock photography/illustrations. Anyway, thanks again for participating everyone!
As far as royalty free images there is no reason to feel the need to give credit. Photographers who sell images for stock are only concerned with getting paid for it and let’s be honest you wouldn’t have very nice or professional designs if you had to give credits for everything. I do a lot of my own photography so when I do ALL of the artwork for a piece I do get more satisfaction from that but what really makes a design is a Designer who is talented, creative and has a good understanding of design such as color, grids, typography and the elements and principals of design and knows what images to pick. I think where a stock photographer wants recognition is on the site where they sell their images and the best recognition they can receive is a high number of sales of their images.
I was looking at one site for lower cost royalty free images when I noticed in their license explanation that some of the photographers wanted credits in work that the images were used in. That’s when I went to their Contact page to inform them that it wasn’t very useful for design if you have to give a credit. They mailed back and said only if you can. But you know what I’m not even going to mess around with something like “we want you to do this but only if you can”. I want to know if I use an image that the usage is free and clear and there’s NOTHING to worry about.
As far as blogging and the web I always am second guessing what I do because I never want to do wrong by anyone. I think as others have said if you are promoting someones site and giving credit and a link that they most likely are going to be happy about it.
Thanks for the insight, Pat. I’m with you, if I use an image I want to know I have no obligations except to pay for it! Things can get complicated if expectations are different on both ends.
I am thankful that movies are made. Atleast it shortened some process.
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[...] a side note: there’s a great discussion going over at Graphic Design Blog, initiated by Lauren and Tara, on when should we give credits for using someone’s photo. So [...]