Why Do They Keep Rejecting My Story?

Photo Provenance Explained

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You’ve spent so much time writing your article, researching, and editing, it’s perfect! So why did it get sent back with a cryptic note asking for provenance?

Provenance means to originate. Provenance credits the original creator of a work. It tells editors where the picture originated so they can check to ensure the image is copyright-free. The International Foundation for Art Research explains it very well, you’ll find the first two pages the most helpful as a Writer. Is provenance a big deal? Yes. Incorrect provenance can cost both the Author and the Platform thousands of dollars.

Enough talk! Here are some examples of correct provenance. Provenance is the Author’s responsibility and as AI “scraping” becomes more prevalent, the general expectation is that the rules will tighten to ensure what we create remains ours.

Looking at the first picture in this article you will see I credited the artist, and platform, and hyperlinked to the actual page it came from, not the Unsplash landing page. Simple!

There is no need to hyperlink screenshots from your own device or photos which belong to you. You do need to state that the image is yours.

No hyperlink is required in the three examples above. Hover over each picture and notice there is also an alt-text. It is not always required but it helps vision-impaired people understand the picture. Search engines love it as well.

Follow those simple examples and you’ll be fine.

Common Mistakes

No provenance, provenance with no hyperlink, and hyperlinks that do not go to the source page.

Why must the hyperlink go to the source page? Because anyone can grab a copyright-protected image and put a hyperlink below it to the Unsplash landing page. Would you want your copyrighted work to be absconded by someone else? I didn’t think so, nor did the people who came up with rules of provenance.

That Which Sneaks

Provenance is not always simple. Omissions happen, often unintentionally.

With the new Nintendo Paper Mario game coming out, someone wrote an interesting article regarding it. The lead photo had provenance to the site the Author retrieved it from. It was another article <this is a bad thing>. That article listed Nintendo for provenance with no hyperlink.

So I dug a little. It took little time for me to search “Can I use Nintendo copyright photos” and get linked to their rules which state, in no unclear terms, that “Nintendo does not grant permission to individuals to use any content from this website.”

Just a heads up, Nintendo is also notorious for coming after content creators, no matter how small. They even have a “tip email” to report piracy and provenance violations. The Author chose not to replace the image and therefore we could not publish the article. It’s a shame, I truly liked the story yet no responsible publication will let that slide.

There are sites that offer free downloads of pictures, however, some of these pictures specifically state that they are free to download but not share. Why do I know this? Because I made that mistake.

Thankfully my Editor saw it and said “Did you check provenance?” Important note: I did not argue, rather I trusted my Editor because she saw something I missed, and she was spot on. The moral of that snippet is don’t waste your time, or an Editor’s, arguing.

Ask questions because good editors want to help, yet also understand that the Editors are adhering to the requirements of the publications they edit for. Be a Nike, Just Do It.

Permissions with Requirements

This photo is from Wikimedia Commons, a great resource if you have never used it before. I want you to open the link in another window. Now scroll down just past the middle where it says Licensing. At the third bullet point “attribution” you will see why this provenance is so long. This is the Writer/Author’s responsibility so be sure to read special requirements, because Editors do.

Just because it’s on the internet, that does not make it copyright-free.

That needed to be stated clearly, on its own line, in bold type. It is our responsibility as Writers and Authors to ensure any image or likeness is copyright-free, it does not fall on an Editor unless they are Copy-Editing.

Go ahead and ask if you don’t know. There’s enough for a short article there as well, just not as many pictures.

Now go forth and create! The moment you publish a work it has copyright protection (in America, it varies greatly between countries.)

Be sure to extend that same courtesy to the creators whose copyrighted, yet public, works you choose to use.