The internet is still considered somewhat of a Wild West landscape when it comes to credit. People share, retweet, and post with abandon, not worried about if the original creator of the content is getting their just desserts. Is it plagiarism? Is it copyright?
If exposure and financial gain are so interlinked that people can justify paying creators “with exposure”, then it only makes sense that there is a responsibility to credit a creator for their work – or else they are getting neither.
Where do marketers come into it? Well, as much as we might not want to admit it, marketers follow and tap into trends. Occasionally those trends can be so niche that you have to credit where you got the idea from. For example, a lot of beauty influencers have gone through some hate for stealing makeup ideas or content concepts from smaller creators.
Plus, where crediting is more prevalent is in curated content, which marketers rely on. It’s a good way to fill an empty content slot, collaborate with other creators and make connections, but it requires some forethought on how and where to credit your content.
It’s worth breaking down, therefore, how you can credit your sources well, if not only for the sake of ethics but for the sake of the law. There isn’t much point in suing a random social media user for sharing your work without credit, but a business is ripe for the picking. Avoid a notch to your reputation at least with these breakdowns of how to credit content.
Social media platforms
There is a lot of misconception about what can be shared on social media accounts. You might think that as a user, everything they post is fair game, but that isn’t the case. Within most platforms’ Terms of Use is the agreement that people uploading onto social media sites are allowing their work to be shared on the platform, but not that they are giving up their right to credit.
Direct quotes
There are more occasions where directly quoting someone is used than you would think. Things like reviews and interviews that you have conducted are implied to be offered as content and chopped up as needed for the format, but you might also want to make a point.
Brands are becoming more and more political, so if you find yourself looking to make a point with the support of a quote, you’re going to have to cite your sources. A few words from an activist, a takeaway from a report, etc., they all need credit.
It might seem like learning your ABCs, but quotation marks exist for a reason and have great power behind them. You don’t add them to something that is paraphrasing and you don’t remove them from something that is a quote, because to be misquoted is grounds for a lawsuit right there. Do not alter the words given, aside from the tidying up of “Eh’s” and “Uhms”, and make sure the author/speaker of the words is clearly labeled directly underneath.
Occasionally, you will need to cite the source of the quote too. So that could be from a report, a book, or, in the case of an exclusive in journalism, the publication it was written for.
Paraphrased content
Paraphrasing should be reserved for when you are trying to fit a 500-page report into an Instagram caption, or if you are making it clear that it is an interpretation of the quote. If you can outright quote, do. You don’t want to be accused of misinterpreting what was said, either as an honest mistake or with malicious intentions.
Either way, you will still need to credit it, but you can add a footnote to more information and perhaps a link to the original source so that users can interpret the material for themselves.
Images and videos
This is where things get important in social media marketing. Images and videos are still the creation of an idea and are protected by copyright laws. If you’re using images that weren’t created by your brand or team, you should keep the watermark in or add the creator’s name to the caption to make it clear that the image/footage isn’t yours.
When it comes to concepts, that is murkier, but it is considered polite to credit who gave you the idea. Some TikTok creators have taken to explaining that they don’t know where a trend initially came from but that they have who they got the idea from in the caption, and commenters can inform them of who initially had the idea.
If you’re looking for more information on affiliate marketing and curated content, take a look at our blog, or for more personalized advice book a free call with a member of our team. Affiverse is also hosting a summit in June. Find all the details of the ELEVATE summit here, where you can find more detailed information on the biggest aspects of affiliate marketing today.
