Image Credits and Licensing
Where every photograph on Reelio comes from, how each tier is credited, what you may not do with them, and how a rights holder raises a query with a 24-hour response.
Every image on Reelio carries a visible credit line directly beneath it. There is no code path on this site that renders a photograph without one, which is a deliberate constraint in the software rather than a rule someone remembers to follow.
This page explains where the pictures come from, how each source is credited, and what to do if one of them is yours.
Rights queries go to hi@itsreelio.com. We answer within 24 hours.
How an image gets onto this site
Before a photograph can be published, our system requires all of the following as filled fields. A missing one blocks publication of the article, not just the picture.
| Field | Why it is required |
|---|---|
| Source tier | Where it came from, chosen from a fixed list |
| Licence type | What we are allowed to do with it |
| Credit line | Rendered visibly beneath every appearance |
| Rights holder | Who actually owns the copyright |
| Licence URL | The terms we are relying on, for anything not owned or public domain |
| Licence expiry | Press licences are time limited, and an expired one blocks re-publication |
| Alternative text | At least 12 characters, describing the image |
Every build flags any licence expiring within 30 days and names the article that depends on it, and refuses to build at all once one has lapsed. This is how a press still cleared for a six-month promotional window does not quietly stay up for three years. No image on the site carries an expiry today, because every one of them is Creative Commons or public domain, and those do not expire.
Copyright metadata inside the file, including creator, credit, copyright notice and rights usage terms, is preserved into every resized version we serve. Most image pipelines strip it by default. Stripping copyright management information is a separate federal claim on top of any infringement claim, so we do not.
Where our images come from
Every photograph on this site today is Creative Commons or public domain, sourced from Wikimedia Commons. That is one tier out of the several this policy covers, and saying which one is more useful than describing a library we do not have. The licence on each is read off the source file page and checked, not assumed, and the rendered caption on each article names the creator, links the file page and states the licence once.
What we use: Creative Commons and public domain
Images released under a Creative Commons licence, or in the public domain.
Credit format: [Photographer] / [Source], [Licence name], with the licence linked
Creative Commons is not free of obligation. Attribution has to be rendered the way the licence requires, and getting it wrong voids the licence. A US court has held that a for-profit ad-supported news site using a CC photograph with incorrect attribution was infringing. We render the photographer, the source and the specific licence, and we link the licence deed.
We never composite or crop a ShareAlike image into a new graphic, because the share-alike condition would then attach to our own work.
Tiers we do not currently use
The policy below covers press kits and distributor materials, licensed wire and editorial stock, official social media with written permission, and editorial fair use. None of them is in use on this site, and no image here relies on any of them. They are written down because the rules have to exist before the first time one is needed, not after.
If any of them ever appears on an article, this section changes on the same day and the tier gets its full treatment back.
Reelio originals. There are none yet. When there are, they will be credited to Reelio and this page will say what you may do with them.
What you may do with images on this site
You may not download, extract, copy or republish any image from this site as a standalone file. This is stated in the terms as well, because our own licences require us to prohibit it.
You may view an image as part of the page it appears on, and you may link to the article.
If you want to use a photograph you saw here, the rights holder is named in the credit beneath it. Ask them. If the credit says Reelio, ask us.
Licensing Reelio's own work
There is nothing here to license. Every image on this site belongs to somebody else and reaches you under a Creative Commons or public domain licence, so the terms are theirs rather than ours: follow the licence link in the caption.
If Reelio starts publishing its own photography and graphics, this section will set out the terms. Until then, an offer to license work that does not exist would be the kind of claim this policy exists to prevent.
If an image is yours
Write to hi@itsreelio.com with the article URL and the image. We reply within 24 hours with either the licence reference we hold for it, or confirmation that it has been taken down while we check.
We would rather pay a licence fee we owe than argue about one. If we have used your work without a licence, say so and tell us your standard editorial rate.
For a formal notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, see DMCA. Writing to hi@itsreelio.com is usually faster, and it does not affect your right to file a formal notice afterwards.
When a credit is wrong
An incorrect or missing credit is treated as a correction, not a typo. We fix the credit, note it at the foot of the article, and it appears in the public index at corrections.
If you spot one, whether or not the image is yours, tell us at hi@itsreelio.com.