[Vocabulary] "Courtesy of..." What does that mean?

[Hugo_Lin]

Hi, native speaker friends:

I keep seeing online photos with a line beneath saying: courtesy of blah blah blah....

I can tell it means the photo is taken by that person, right? But why say "courtesy of.."? What does it have anything to do with courtesy? I don't understand.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SoothingDave]

It doesn't necessarily mean that the photo was taken by the entity named. It means the entity named owns the rights to the photo. It could be the photographer. It could be a news organization. It could be a company that supplies stock images.

The point is that the photo is the property of the person named, and is being used with their permission.

 

[Hugo_Lin]

Thank you, Dave. Is it actually short for "by courtesy of.....", meaning the photo is used for free, so it's actually a favor or generosity offered by the property owner??

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes, the implication is that the courtesy has been given for free.

 

[Hugo_Lin]

Thanks, Dave：）