The contested photo of  Niccolo Rampini at the Auditorium Santa Chiara in Trento for the Festival of Economics. CC-BY-SA 4.0

In a reminder that “free license” is not the same as “public domain,” Ars Technica and Wikipedia report the CC license upheld in Italy.

Last year, Festival delle Resistenze 2016 in Trentino-Alto Adige misused a photo of the journalist Niccolò Rampini that had been uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under a CC-by-SA-4.0 license by a professional photographer named Federico Caranti. The festival neither attributed Caranti, nor released the image under the same license, which is stipulated in the conditions of the license 

Photo of Niccolò Caranti. “A supposed ghost sitting on a chair”. by Terrasque CC-BY-SA 3.0

Together with his lawyer, Simone Aliprandi, Caranti and the festival organizers came to an agreement in which Caranti’s legal costs were covered and the festival released a statement of apology.

In Caranti’s words, “I’m happy to see my photos spread around, but I demand proper attribution. It’s not much for a free photo.”

Attribution is a key component of the Creative Commons licenses. We have historically encouraged license holders to amicably resolve their concerns around attribution and reuse and applaud the work of both Caranti and Aliprandi.

As Wikipedia writes, “By giving creators the attribution they deserve, you can fill voids on your websites as well.” For more on how to correctly attribute Creative Commons photos, check this guide on our Wiki.