How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print
Updated · 2 min read
Short answer
Name the image, its author, where it came from and its licence with a link, and say if you changed it, for example: “Lake Louise at sunrise” by Jane Doe (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY 4.0, cropped. Put it next to the image (a caption or overlay), or on a credits page or slide that readers can find. Image Asset Server writes this line for every image that needs one.
What CC BY asks for
CC BY lets you copy, edit and use an image for anything, commercial use included, on one condition: credit. The licence asks for the creator’s name, a copyright notice if there is one, a link to the licence, a link to the source, and an indication if you changed the image.
A good credit line
“Lake Louise at sunrise” by Jane Doe (Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:…), CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), cropped.
Shorter forms work where space is tight, as long as the links are reachable: Photo: Jane Doe / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, linked to the file page.
On a web page
The most natural place is a caption:
<figure>
<img src="lake-louise.jpg" alt="Lake Louise at sunrise" width="1920" height="1280">
<figcaption><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:…">Lake Louise at sunrise</a> by Jane Doe, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a></figcaption>
</figure>The image set builder writes exactly this in credits.html for every pick.
Icons
Most open-source icon sets use MIT, Apache 2.0, ISC or the SIL Open Font License. They don’t ask for a visible credit next to each icon: keep the set’s licence notice with your app’s or site’s third-party notices. A few icon sets are CC BY and do need a visible credit.
Step by step
Collect the facts when you download
Note the image's title, the author's name, the URL of its page and the exact licence with its version. The attribution field, credits.json and ATTRIBUTION.md contain all four.
Write one line per image
Use the TASL pattern: Title, Author, Source, Licence. Link the source page and the licence, and add a word about changes such as 'cropped', 'colour-adjusted' or 'background removed'.
Put the credit where readers look
On a web page, in a <figcaption> or a small line under the image. In slides, on the slide or a final credits slide. On social posts, in the caption. In print, next to the image or in a picture-credits section.
Keep the record
Store the credit lines with the project. If a client or a rights holder asks where a picture came from, you can answer in a minute.
Questions
- Do I have to credit CC0 or public-domain images?
- No. A short credit such as 'Image: The Met (CC0)' is a courtesy many publishers include anyway, and it helps readers find the original.
- Can I put all the credits on one page?
- Yes. CC BY allows any reasonable manner based on the medium. A credits page linked from every page that uses the images is common on websites.
- What if the author's real name isn't given?
- Use the name or username they publish under. CC BY asks you to credit the creator in the way they requested, if they did.
- Is a credit enough for CC BY-SA or CC BY-NC images?
- No. A credit satisfies CC BY. Share-alike adds the obligation to license an edited version the same way, and non-commercial forbids commercial use whatever you credit.
Try it
Live searches across every source, with a licence verdict on each result.
Sources
Practical information, not legal advice. AI agent? This guide is also available as Markdown.
