Intellectual Property and the Arts
Guidelines for Correct Captioning of Images
Clear, complete captions to images are an obligation of scholarly citation. In addition, good captions provide useful information to subsequent users of images, providing a clear statement of the copyright status of the image and distinguishing copyright from other kinds of access control.
CAA recommends that all publishers and authors adopt a policy of clear, accurate, and complete captioning of images, whether in print or as image metadata online, and whether the information will appear with the image or on a picture list of photograph-rights page.
Sample Captions
Fig. 1. Odilon Redon, Druidess, 1891, lithograph on mounted ivory China paper, 9 1/8 x 8 in. (23.1 x 20.2 cm). The Art Institute of Chicago, the Stickney Collection, 1929.1697 (artwork in the public domain; photograph provided by the Art Institute of Chicago)
Fig. 1. Andy Warhol, Suicide, 1962, screenprint on paper, 40 x 30¼ in. (101.6 x 76.5 cm), Menil Collection, Houston, gift of Adelaide de Menil Carpenter (artwork © 2007 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/Artists Rights Society [ARS], New York; photograph by Paul Hester, Houston)
Clear Punctuation Distinguishes Rights Information from Caption Information
In CAA publications, information on the copyright status of a reproduction is placed within parentheses, at the end of the caption data. A distinction is made between copyright status of an artwork and of the photograph or scan of an artwork provided for reproduction purposes, where this information has been provided to us.
Use Standardized Terms
Captions in The Art Bulletin and Art Journal use standardized language to describe image copyright and credit information, in order to clarify the copyright status of all images reproduced so far as possible, for the benefit of readers, researchers, and subsequent users of these images.
In order to provide clear information to readers, rights holders, and subsequent users of images, CAA has established conventions for describing the copyright status of the works we publish:
Artwork in the public domain
Artwork copyright © Name
Photograph copyright © Name
Photograph provided by [name of photographer, image bank, or other provider]
Artwork published under fair use
Photograph by Name (where copyright is not asserted by the provider)
Photograph by the author
Be Inclusive
Where the information is available, a work of art is identified as either being in copyright or in the public domain. If the copyright holder is known, it is identified. If an artwork is in the public domain but copyright is asserted in the photograph or scan of the artwork used for reproduction, the copyright status of both artwork and photograph is identified in two discrete notices.
However a caption may contain no copyright information at all, where none is available. The absence of a copyright notice or a © symbol should not be assumed to indicate that an image is either in or out of copyright. Similarly, the absence of any statement that a work is “in the public domain” should not be construed as indicating that it is not in the public domain—only that information was insufficient for the editors to make a determination.
Reproductions of pictures of material not subject to copyright may have caption information that contains copyright information for the photograph or scan used for reproduction but not for the content of the photograph.
Where permission was requested from a rights holder, the language requested by that rights holder is used, in some instances edited only for clarity. The term “photograph [or scan] provided by” is used to indicate the supplier of the photograph or scan. “Courtesy of” is not used. The term of copyright varies internationally, and CAA does not assert that a work identified as in the public domain is necessarily out of copyright throughout the world. Where the caption indicates that we are asserting fair use, we make that assertion only under United States law.
Include a Statement of Good Faith
An invitation to receive corrections is courteous to rightsholders and useful.
The authors and publisher make reasonable efforts to ascertain the rights status of all third-party works. Any corrections should be sent to the attention of the Director of Publications, CAA.
Another version:
All reasonable efforts have been made to identify and contact copyright holders but in some cases these could not be traced. If you hold or administer rights for materials published here, please contact us. Any errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions.
