Introduction
If you are unsure if you should include a credit when you use media you have downloaded, this article is for you. It can be advantageous in certain situations, but not in all. Let’s discuss both perspectives.
It’s part of the licence terms
You may not have an option, so make sure you read the licence terms to understand if a credit is required. Including a credit note ensures compliance with the provider’s terms. Even if the license explicitly states that no credit is required, there are several things to consider before deciding if you should include one.
It’s the nice thing to do
Crediting the content creator is a sign of respect. Giving credit to the photographer shows appreciation for their work and acknowledges their creative contribution.
It helps the content creator
A simple link and a bit of text might not seem that helpful, but it can add up. Credits can help increase traffic to the author’s site, giving them more exposure. This increase in traffic could come directly from people following the link you provide or could be indirectly helping their site rank higher in search results from search engines like google. Think about helping balance your karma by adding a credit, especially if you have got the asset for free.
Makes your content look more reputable
Depending on the content you are creating, adding credits can help make your site look more authoritative. Especially in the age of generative AI, credits can provide more context behind an image, which can make it clearer that the image is real. This is especially useful when dealing with factual content.
Rewards
Some companies provide intensives to add credits. Dreamstime is one such company. If you add a credit to an image within 24 hours of downloading it from Dreamstime, you can claim a free download. This shows how companies place a value on attributions.
Design Constraints
In certain cases, including a credit line may disrupt the overall design of your content, making it less visually appealing. Social media posts or advertisements are two use cases that can particularly be a challenge to include a credit. The attribution may distract or confuse the audience, taking away from the intended message.
Makes it easier for others to copy your content
It can take a lot of effort to find the best content for your project. Including a credit makes it easier for your competitors to reuse the content you have found, allowing them to benefit from all the effort you went to find the perfect image. Excluding a credit makes it more difficult to reuse your assets, making your competitors work harder to compete. There are tools that people could use if they were really determined to find the source of your image, so it won’t stop them from reusing the same assets. They could use Google’s reverse image search to potentially find the source.
