Using images, tables & other visual material in your work

Rights attributions are used when you copy a figure created by someone else.

Attributions explain what legal property rights apply to a work, and who those rights belong to. Property rights give the creators of works some degree of control over their work. Property rights may restrict what you can do with a work, particular in terms of copying or recreating it, whether as a whole or in part; and you may need to seek the rights holder’s permission to re-use their work.

Failing to follow property rights can result in you having to re-do or withdraw work, or even be taken to court, especially in your professional life. So it is important to be aware of property rights and to get into good habits around them.

Property rights apply to text as well as figures: but the way figures are usually copied in work means you need to consider property rights more often when using them. Figures may also have different rights holders from the texts that include them. 

Common property rights you might encounter are:

Copyright

Creative Commons

Public Domain

Other forms of property rights exist, such as the Open Government Licence. Always check the terms and conditions of any licence to understand what is permitted and anything you are required to do when using the material. 

Creator's preferred attribution

Some sources will suggest a preferred format they want for any attribution to their work, as in the example below. If this is the case, use that preferred format for your attribution.

© Sheffield Hallam University. Photographed by a member of staff.

Copyright is the default property right: unless there is explicit mention that the figure is covered by an alternative property right such as Public Domain or Creative Commons, it’s safest to assume that the figure will be covered by copyright. 

Copyright does eventually expire: however, as this can be up to 70 years after the source was released or the death of its creator, most figures from mid-twentieth century onwards- and possibly even earlier- are likely to be still covered by copyright. Please be aware that new performances, interpretations and formatting have their own copyright, which will apply even if the copyright of the original work no longer applies.

The dedicated copyright guide has more detailed information on how long copyright lasts.

What is copyright?

Copyright is the default property right: unless copyright has been waived by explicitly invoking another property right such creative commons or public domain, then copyright will automatically apply. 

Copyright limits what you can do with a figure: while there are legal exceptions which give you more freedom in the context of student work, you normally can’t re-use copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder.

Using copyrighted figures

Copyright attribution can be indicated in the formats:

• Copyright. Year of copyright Name of copyright holder
• © Year of copyright Name of copyright holder

While it not necessary for student assignments- where legal exceptions mean you usually don’t need to seek permission for re-use within the limits of fair dealing- when you have sought and obtained permission to re-use material, it is good practice to include an appropriate permission statement afterwards. It’s a reassurance to your reader- and a reminder to yourself!- that you have got permission to re-use the material. For example:

• Reprinted with permission
• Adapted with permission

Alternatives to Copyright

It is worth considering possible alternatives to using copyrighted materials in your work. You can’t always guarantee you will get permission to reuse copyrighted materials: and even if you get it, obtaining permission can be time-consuming.

This could mean creating your own figures, or choosing figures covered by other property rights, such as Creative Commons or Public Domain.

You might also consider adding links to the original sources where the figures appear, rather than copying from them.

Further information

There is a dedicated guide that goes into more detail about Copyright

What is Creative Commons?

Creators can release their work under a Creative Commons licence. This allows re-use of the entire work without first seeking permission providing certain conditions are met. The licence will indicate exactly what these conditions are, but they are normally a combination of some of the following:

• BY: You must provide an attribution for the creator of the work 
• SA/ Share-Alike: If you create your own new work based on the original work, it must be released under the same Creative Commons licence. 
• NC: The work can only be re-used for non-commercial purposes 
• ND/ No Derivatives: The work can only re- used in its original form, and can not be modified or adapted 

Please bear in mind that a Creative Commons licence can not be revoked: so if you release your own work under a Creative Commons licence, you can’t then reapply copyright to it at a later date. 

Using Creative Commons figures

For Creative Commons figures, you add information about the creator and creative commons licence at the end of the caption. This normally follows the format of:

Creator’s name. CC Licence.

You can use abbreviated forms of the licence if you wish. For example: 

Felix Andrews. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Randy Chiu. CC BY 2.0

It is good practice to hyperlink the Creative Commons licence to the appropriate licence details on the Creative Commons website if you can. 

What is Public Domain?

Public Domain works are either old enough that their copyright has expired, or their rights holder has waived their rights so others can freely re-use the work. Public Domain can be freely re-used without seeking permission

Using Public Domain figures

For Public Domain figures, just add ‘Public Domain’ at the end of the caption. 

In most cases, property rights for any figures you create would belong to you. However, be aware that this is not always the case, especially in the case of any professional work you have done, where the copyright might instead belong to your employer. Check your contract to see if this is the case.