Sooner or later a client, a brand reviewer or a legal team asks where a photo came from. The teams that answer in five minutes are the ones that recorded it at download. Here is the minimum record and the handover that satisfies the question.
The six fields that matter
- The library and the image identifier, so the source can be found again.
- The photographer, because that is who a licence belongs to.
- The licence name, plus a copy of the licence text as it stood on the day.
- The file actually published, at the size you published it.
- The intended use: which channel, which campaign, paid or organic.
- The date, because licences and library catalogues change.
Why “it was free stock” fails the question
Free libraries do not indemnify you, and their licences are not per-campaign contracts. A client asking for proof wants a record that a specific file, used in a specific place, was covered. A screenshot of a search results page does not do that; a log entry with the licence name and the source page does.
The handover
Deliver the images and the record together. In Photothentic a project folder holds the shortlists, and the folder exports as a zip with the photos and a content credentials file beside each one, so the credits and the files travel as one package. Keep the export with the campaign archive rather than in someone's downloads folder.
Add one line to the delivery note: “Photography from Unsplash, Pixabay and Pexels under their respective licences; credits and licence references are in the attached log.” That sentence answers the question before it is asked.
What to do when an image disappears
Libraries withdraw photographs, usually because a photographer leaves or a subject asks. If you kept a copy of the licence text and a copy of the file, a withdrawn image is an administrative note, not a crisis. If you kept neither, you have a campaign running on a photo you cannot evidence.