This isn’t really about astronomy, but in a way, it is.  I was cruising around the web the other day, and I went to a site I usually visit because of amusing content and comments.  The site had used 15 images produced by NASA et al, ESA et al, and various astrophysicists to illustrate that day’s post, but none of the images were credited.  Not a single one.  I commented on it, and wrote the site owner twice, but nothing was done to credit the owners of these images.  I never got a response, either – not from my comment or my two emails.

What’s that called in the digital era?  We used to call it “rude”, “copyright infringement”, and “theft”.

Organizations like NASA and ESA don’t care if you use their images; they want people to see them and enjoy them.  That’s why they put them out there.  But you have to credit the image, guys.  These agencies and the people working for them depend on public recognition of their work for funding.  If you didn’t know it was Hubble that put all those amazing images out all those years, do you think we’d still have the program?  No way.  The Hubble would have been shut down within two years, and look at all we would have lost.

I think it’s wrong.  There’s no excuse for it, especially when it’s so easy to credit the image.  I mean, it’s written right THERE to whom it belongs, you can’t miss it when you go to NASA or HubbleSite or wherever to get the image… it just takes 30 sec worth of typing to attribute the image.  Forgetting is one thing; blowing it off is another.

I’m still kicking around whether or not I should link the site to NASA and ESA and let them contact the site owner… because they will if they know about it.  They’re very careful about attribution, because it matters to them.

And it should matter to us.