Photo sharing: attribution and license

[Chris Fastie]

This topic arose in association with sharing photos from the recent Public Lab Barnraising. It's great fun to see everyone's photos, and an important way to share the experience with those who could not attend. It's also an important way for Public Lab to collect photos that can be used for publications, PR, and reports. When Public Lab (or anyone else) uses these photos in the future they must know what license was used so they know 1) whether it is legal to use them and 2) whether permission or attribution is required. If permission or attribution is required, the name of the photographer must be known. 

So it seems to make sense to encourage sharing in a manner that allows the intended license and the name of the photographer to be easily determined. I'm not sure how to do this, but here is what (I think) I know about some of the issues.

What license is applied?

1. If the photos are shared on the Public Lab website (publiclab.org) they are apparently being automatically assigned a Creative Commons BY-SA license. This is explained in links at the bottom of every page -- http://publiclab.org/licenses:

Creative Commons: "CC"

These licenses, which can be read about at the Creative Commons website, are easy-to read, thorough, and come in a few flavors, which can be mixed and matched. Much of our content is released under both Attribution and Share-Alike provisions, a combination typically referred to as "CC-BY-SA".

So unless you designate another license, your photo shared at publiclab.org might be CC-BY-SA, but I'm really sure about that. 

2. If the photos are shared at a Google Group (like this one) I don't know that there is an automatic license applied (Google might have other ideas).

3. If there is only a link to photos shared at another site (like Flickr), the license is probably determined by actions taken (or not taken) at the other site.

4. Most photo files have headers (IPTC) which can contain license information. Many cameras allow you to enter license information that is then written to the IPTC header of every subsequent photo. Many photo organizing programs (e.g. Lightroom) allow you to have license information attached to each photo automatically. 

I don't know which of these applications of license takes precedence. 

Who took the photo?

Even if the license can be determined, the name of the photographer might not be known. 

1. Sometimes a photographer's name is in the IPTC header, but only if the photographer (or a previous owner of the camera)  took action to make that happen. 
   
2. Sometimes the name is in the filename if the photographer put it there.
   
3. Photos shared at sites like Flickr are usually associated with an account which is linked to a discoverable person. This person can sometimes be assumed to be the photographer.
4. Sometimes, but not always, a photo included in a Public Lab research note was taken by the author of the note. If not, credit should be given.
5. Sometimes the photographer can be determined in other ways.
   

I am not sure about the best way to make it easy to determine who took each photo shared with Public Lab people.

Suggestions:

Licenses 

Be aware that posting photos at publiclab.org might determine which license is applied.

When posting to Flickr you can choose a license.

Where ever you post photos, be aware that you can designate any license you want in the IPTC header. I don't know if this always trumps other license designations.

Photographer's name

When you drag in a bunch of your photos to a publiclab.org page, precede them with something like "The following 10 photos were taken by Thisismyname." 

When you include a photo at publiclab.org that you did not take, identify the source, and make sure you have permission to use the photo.

Be aware that your camera or photo software might allow including your name in the IPTC header.

Even if you don't care about getting credit for your photography, include your name somehow so others know where to start if they want to use the photo.

Barnraising Caption Contest!

(The photographer's name and the license under which this photograph is released are embedded in the IPTC header of this photograph.)

The photographer did not obtain model releases from the persons appearing in this photo and could therefore be legally exposed if this photo is published, but that is another issue.

Chris

[Jeffrey Warren]

Thanks for the overview, Chris -- a couple answers:

> So unless you designate another license, your photo shared at publiclab.org might be CC-BY-SA

That's right!

> 2. If the photos are shared at a Google Group (like this one) I don't know that there is an automatic license applied (Google might have other ideas).

Nope, i don't think google group emails or their content are licensed at all unless you say so in the email. A very good reason to post on PublicLab.org if you intend to share. 

> I don't know which of these applications of license takes precedence. 

All of them -- if you've licensed your photos under various licenses, the "downstream" user can choose which license to accept. 

+1 for adding your name to your photo! Maybe we should begin putting usernames into image upload file paths, so you can tell from the URL? Someone want to make a github issue for that?

Jeff

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