How to Handle Attribution in Online Marketing
The internet was built on the idea of sharing, but there are right ways and wrong ways to share. The key is knowing when, how, and where to attribute what we share online.
When Attribution Isn’t Required
Before we dig into attribution, it’s important to note that simply linking to another website is not copyright infringement. Linking to a public URL does not copy or reproduce the site's content, so it doesn't violate U.S. copyright law. Courts have repeatedly upheld that linking to publicly available material is legal, and there is no law requiring you to inform a site when you link to it.
Sharing links is the foundation of the internet. Think of it this way: Millions of links are shared across blogs, news sites, and social media every single day. These shared links aren’t approved beforehand. The site owner can find out they’ve been linked via their analytics referral traffic data, regardless of whether you notify them.
Of course you can drop the source a note if you want to engage. If you do, share your post link so they can see it in action. They’ll probably be grateful to know you’re boosting their content!
When to Attribute
Attribution isn’t just preferred, but required, when sharing text or media from other sources. Pretending to claim ownership of anyone else’s content—even passively by neglecting attribution—is a bad look for anyone. More serious is the fact that it can come with copyright infringement penalties, ranging from fines to imprisonment. We don’t risk it—we attribute. If you didn’t write or make it, don’t, even accidentally, imply you did.
Before you facepalm, don’t worry: Attribution online doesn’t require formal, footnoted citations like an annual report or academic article.
Attributing Text
In direct quotes, we generally only use 1-3 sentences—or a short paragraph/list. Your audience wants to hear from you, so think of direct quotes as a supplement, not a focus. They should serve a specific purpose, like reinforcing your point or phrasing something so succinctly there’s no tidy way to rephrase without plagiarism. Include notes on why this direct quote matters to you and your audience, how it supports your point, and you should be good to go.
Use quotation marks or a block quote around direct quotes, and place an attribution link to the source of that quote immediately before or after it. Example:
In its latest article, The New York Times reports:
“More people who lost coverage after congressional Republicans ended enhanced federal subsidies are now seeking care in emergency rooms and unable to pay bills.” — Uninsured Patients Rise Sharply, Hospitals Report, Citing Obamacare Cuts
In the example above, we use a special block quote visual style. Not only does it help show the difference between your thoughts and what’s quoted, but it also wraps the text in HTML to distinguish it from other, non-quote text. It looks something like this:
<blockquote cite="https://website.com">
<p>”The quoted content would go here.” —<a href="https://www.website.com">Linked Source Name</p>
</blockquote>
Notice that you can add a citation link in a block quote, as well.
Inline attribution is also acceptable if you want to use a short, fragment quote in a sentence. For example:
In its latest article, The New York Times reports that many Americans are “now seeking care in emergency rooms and unable to pay bills.”
Easy, right? Just get that attribution and source link in there somewhere, and you should be in the clear.
Attributing Media
If you find a photo, illustration, graphic, or video on Google or Wikipedia, you cannot simply assume it’s free to use—with or without attribution. Always look for licensing information before you use media from another source. Typically, that licensing will spell out what kind of attribution is required, if any. Sometimes it can be as simple as adding alt text to the image itself, and other times a caption may be required to convey specific information.
If you can’t find the license, or if the license doesn’t suit your planned usage of that media, the safest bet is to find a replacement with clearer licensing. That, or turn to websites like Unsplash or Pexels, which provide free, no-attribution-required media. We also like the Creative Commons search portal since you can filter results by license type. Paid media, through sites like iStock, is also an option—though there are additional restrictions compared to Unsplash or Pexels.
Need help getting it right? We can help you sort out attribution requirements on your next project, through consultation or sourcing properly-licensed media. Give us a few details to get started.
