A quotation-purpose, rights and risk matrix
This matrix is a screening tool, not legal advice. One warning may mean that a licence or different image is needed. Completing every row does not guarantee how a court would assess a particular use. Publication in a repository, sensitive subjects and commercial distribution warrant especially careful review.
Make the quotation purpose visible in your argument
Section 51 of the German Copyright Act permits quotation of a published work where the extent is justified by the specific purpose. It expressly mentions including individual works in an independent scientific work to explain its content. The relationship must appear in the author’s own text. Description, comparison, criticism or interpretation of this particular image can create that relationship. A thematic illustration followed by no discussion does not.
Write a purpose statement before importing the file: “Figure 3 is needed to compare the change in perspective between the architectural proposal and the completed building.” If you cannot state how the image supports the argument, consider a licensed alternative, a freely reusable image or no illustration. The fame of an artwork does not make a decorative reproduction necessary.
Refer to the specific visible features that the analysis uses. “See Figure 3” alone gives little explanation. A comparison may require two images, but each should have its own function. A gallery of examples without individual engagement increases the volume of reproduction without necessarily improving the quotation purpose.
Use only the visual material the purpose requires
A full image may sometimes be necessary because cropping would destroy composition, context or meaning. This does not establish a general rule in favour of full reproductions. Ask whether the analysis concerns the whole or whether a clearly labelled detail is enough. Image dimensions, resolution, repetition and the number of figures all affect the assessment of extent.
Section 62 addresses alterations in uses permitted by the relevant statutory division. It includes transfers to another size and changes inherent in the reproduction process for visual works and photographs. Strong recolouring, deleting central elements or an unlabelled montage should not be treated casually as quotation. If a crop is methodologically needed, label it and preserve the reader’s route to the original.
Search-image results are discovery tools, not source records. Continue to the publisher, collection or rights page. Record the creator credit, status and particular reproduction found there. A thumbnail may have different technical and rights information from the image it previews.
Separate the scholarly source trail from permission
Section 63 requires a clear indication of the source in the cases it covers and, for public communication under section 51, includes the author’s name unless that is impossible. A scholarly caption will normally identify the creator, title or subject, year if known, holding collection or publication, a stable location and an access date for changing online material. The exact punctuation follows the citation style selected for the thesis.
A working caption is: “Fig. 4: [creator], [title], [year], [collection/publication], [stable URL], accessed [date], image quotation under section 51 UrhG; cropped by the author.” Use that language only after evaluating the statutory conditions. The phrase “image quotation” is not a substitute for analysis or a licence label.
Carry the item into the list of figures and make caption, list and bibliography consistent. The guide to sources in a list of figures provides a cross-reference workflow.
Copyright is only one layer of the decision
For a portrait, assess whether distribution or public display requires consent or falls within a defined exception. A museum or archive may provide access to a file under stated conditions, while the underlying work and the digital reproduction present separate questions. A submission visible only to examiners and later open-repository publication can have different reach.
Document the intended context: printed assessment copy, restricted learning platform, public repository or a publisher’s edition. Revisit the review when that context changes. Permission secured for a thesis does not necessarily cover a website, public lecture or commercial book.
Example: analysing an advertisement instead of decorating a chapter
A dissertation examines the portrayal of family roles in a published historical advertisement. Its prose analyses gaze, role distribution and slogan, making the visual necessary for those claims. The caption supplies the known designer or rights credit, campaign or title, year, publishing source, stable link, access date and any marked crop. The methods section explains why this item was selected.
Using the same advertisement as an attractive opener for a chapter on advertising history is different. Without engagement with the particular visual, the quotation purpose is not apparent. The author should find a suitable licence, choose a reusable substitute or omit the image. The answer turns on function and integration, not the subject matter alone.
A documented final review
- Record the publication status and original source.
- State the particular quotation purpose in one sentence.
- Connect every figure to its analytical passage.
- Justify number, dimensions, resolution and any crop.
- Label alterations and review whether they are permitted.
- Keep creator, work, location and access details consistent.
- Review personality, archive, trademark and contractual layers.
- Reassess before any public secondary use.
The media citations hub covers adjacent image questions. The foundation guide to academic writing and evidence places visual credits in wider source practice. For licensed alternatives, see how to cite Creative Commons images.