How to credit Creative Commons pictures in a YouTube description
Checked October 27, 2026
Add one line per picture to the video description with the title, the author, a link to the source and the license with a link to it. Creative Commons calls this TASL. CC BY and CC BY-SA pictures require a credit. Public domain and CC0 pictures don't, but crediting them takes one line and shows viewers where your pictures came from.
What a credit needs
- Title: the name of the picture, if it has one.
- Author: the name the author asked to be credited by, even if it is a pseudonym. Creative Commons is not the author.
- Source: a link to the page where you found the picture.
- License: the license name and version, such as CC BY 4.0, with a link to it. "Creative Commons" on its own is the name of an organization, not a license.
If you changed the picture, say how, for example "cropped and colorized". Creative Commons also suggests adding that the material is used without warranties, though most video credits leave this out.
Lines you can copy
One line per picture, under a heading such as "Pictures". These are real files.
Pictures "The Muse Inspiring the Poet" (1909), Henri Rousseau. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_muse_inspirant_le_po%C3%A8te.jpg "Guillaume Apollinaire et sa muse" (1910), Max Jacob, photo by Françoise Foliot. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fran%C3%A7oise_Foliot_-_Max_Jacob_-_Apollinaire_et_sa_muse.jpg "Woodcut: patient with stomach injury", Wellcome Collection. CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woodcut;_patient_with_stomach_injury_Wellcome_L0006229.jpg "Voyager 1 Launch" (1977), NASA. https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA21747
For a picture you changed, add the change after the license: "CC BY 4.0, cropped and colorized by [your channel]".
Where to put it
Creative Commons says the right place depends on the medium. For a YouTube video, the description is the usual place, and you can also show a short credit on screen while the picture is visible. If the list is long, Creative Commons suggests a web page with the full credits, linked from the description.
ShareAlike in a video
CC BY-SA asks that adaptations be shared under the same license. Creative Commons' FAQ says that whether a change counts as an adaptation depends mainly on copyright law: generally, when the new work adds enough creativity to be protected in its own right. The licenses settle two cases outright. Syncing music to moving pictures always counts as an adaptation. Changing the format, for example showing a scan on screen, never does.
For pictures, the practical reading is this: if you edit the picture itself (colorize it, combine it with other images, redraw it), your edited version is covered by CC BY-SA as well, so say so in the credit. If you would rather not think about it, use a public domain, CC0 or CC BY picture instead.
Licenses to avoid in a monetized video
- NC (NonCommercial): ad revenue makes the use hard to call non-commercial.
- ND (NoDerivatives): you can't share an edited version, so cropping for effect or colorizing is out.
Wikimedia Commons doesn't accept either kind, which is one reason it is a good place to look.
在 YouTube 视频简介里怎么给 Creative Commons 图片署名
核对日期：2026 年 10 月 27 日
在视频简介里每张图写一行：标题、作者、来源链接、授权和授权链接。Creative Commons 把这四项叫作 TASL。CC BY 和 CC BY-SA 的图必须署名；公有领域和 CC0 的图不强制，但多写一行就能让观众知道图从哪来。
署名要写哪些
- 标题：图片的名称（如果有）。
- 作者：作者要求的署名，用笔名也照写。Creative Commons 不是作者。
- 来源：你找到这张图的页面链接。
- 授权：授权名称和版本，例如 CC BY 4.0，并附授权链接。单写「Creative Commons」只是一个机构的名字，不是授权。
如果改动过图片，要写明怎么改的，例如「裁切并上色」。Creative Commons 还建议注明「不提供任何担保」，不过视频署名一般省略这一句。
可以直接套用的写法
每张图一行，放在「Pictures」这样的标题下面。下面都是真实存在的文件。
Pictures "The Muse Inspiring the Poet" (1909), Henri Rousseau. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_muse_inspirant_le_po%C3%A8te.jpg "Guillaume Apollinaire et sa muse" (1910), Max Jacob, photo by Françoise Foliot. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fran%C3%A7oise_Foliot_-_Max_Jacob_-_Apollinaire_et_sa_muse.jpg "Woodcut: patient with stomach injury", Wellcome Collection. CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woodcut;_patient_with_stomach_injury_Wellcome_L0006229.jpg "Voyager 1 Launch" (1977), NASA. https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA21747
改动过的图，在授权后面加上改动说明，例如「CC BY 4.0, cropped and colorized by [你的频道名]」。
放在哪里
Creative Commons 说，署名放在哪要看媒介。YouTube 视频一般放在简介里；图片出现时也可以在画面上打一行简短的署名。图很多的话，Creative Commons 建议单独做一个网页列出全部署名，在简介里放链接。
视频里的 ShareAlike（相同方式共享）
CC BY-SA 要求改编作品用同样的授权共享。Creative Commons 的常见问题说，一处改动算不算改编，主要看版权法：一般是新作品加入了足够的创作、本身就能受保护的时候。有两种情况授权里直接定死了：把音乐和画面同步，一律算改编；只换格式（比如把扫描件放到屏幕上），一律不算。
对图片来说，实际可以这样理解：如果你改了图片本身（上色、和别的图合成、重新描绘），改过的这张图也受 CC BY-SA 约束，要在署名里写明。不想操心这个，就换用公有领域、CC0 或 CC BY 的图。
开通收益的视频里别用的授权
- NC（禁止商用）：视频有广告收入，就很难说是非商业用途。
- ND（禁止改编）：不能共享改动过的版本，裁切做效果、上色都不行。
维基共享资源这两类都不收，这也是在那里找图比较省心的原因之一。