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What does the word "courtesy" mean with a ':'? Does it show the polite behaviour of the person named in the ad or does it show polite behaviour to him or is it a way to thank him?
Food distribution among flood victims
Courtesy: Mr James
Is the 2nd line thanking Mr James?
It is probably a way of thanking him.
There is an idiom "(by) courtesy of" which means "with the permission of".
This photo is provided courtesy of Mr James.
The form with a colon looks like a shortening of that. The meaning is clear. However, I've not seen courtesy used with that punctuation before.
Use of "Courtesy..." in a credit is not just a way of thanking someone, or stating that a resource was used with permission. It's used specifically if the work being credited was provided free of charge.
From the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, p.128:
3.33 Crediting material obtained free of charge. For material that the author has obtained free and without restrictions on its use, the credit line may use the word courtesy.
Based on the short snippet in the question, I think the context may be that:
"Food distribution among flood victims" is a caption on a photograph.
Mr. James owns copyright to this photograph, but he allowed it to be used for free in this particular ad
courtesy of someone is an idiom
courtesy of someone idiom
from someone as a gift: We got these gift certificates for nothing, courtesy of two local businesses.
Your example
Courtesy: Mr James
is similar to saying courtesy of Mr James. It is a way to thank Mr James.
It specifically means that this donation was made by Mr. James. But listing all the people who provided aid is a way of acknowledging and thanking all of them.
