Footer link

Hello. I am using a theme and I would like to remove their credits. but I tried to do it as a win-win and add
footer span.text { display: none; }
but there is no span. This is my footer.php

<?php global $theme; ?>

<?php if($theme->display('footer_widgets')) { ?>
    <div id="footer-widgets" class="clearfix">
        <?php
        /**
        * Footer  Widget Areas. Manage the widgets from: wp-admin -> Appearance -> Widgets
        */
        ?>
        <div class="footer-widget-box">
            <?php
                if(!dynamic_sidebar('footer_1')) {
                    $theme->hook('footer_1');
                }
            ?>
        </div>

        <div class="footer-widget-box">
            <?php
                if(!dynamic_sidebar('footer_2')) {
                    $theme->hook('footer_2');
                }
            ?>
        </div>

        <div class="footer-widget-box footer-widget-box-last">
            <?php
                if(!dynamic_sidebar('footer_3')) {
                    $theme->hook('footer_3');
                }
            ?>
        </div>

    </div>
<?php  } ?>

    <div id="footer">

        <div id="copyrights">
            <?php
                if($theme->display('footer_custom_text')) {
                    $theme->option('footer_custom_text');
                } else {
                    ?> &copy; <?php echo date('Y'); ?>  <a href="<?php echo home_url(); ?>/"><?php bloginfo('name'); ?></a><?php
                }
            ?>
        </div>

        <?php /*
            All links in the footer should remain intact.
            These links are all family friendly and will not hurt your site in any way.
            Warning! Your site may stop working if these links are edited or deleted 

            You can buy this theme without footer links online at http://newwpthemes.com/buy/?theme=upstream
        */ ?>

        <div id="credits">Designed by: <a href="http://projectserverhosting.com/enterprise-project-management/">Enterprise Project management</a> | Thanks to <a href="http://businessemailhosting.com/">Email Hosting</a>, <a href="http://virtualdesktoponline.com/cloud-desktop/">Cloud Desktop</a> and <a href="http://mssharepointhosting.com/hosted-sharepoint/">Hosted SharePoint</a></div><!-- #credits -->

    </div><!-- #footer -->

    </div>

</div><!-- #container -->

<?php wp_footer(); ?>
<?php $theme->hook('html_after'); ?>
</body>
</html>

I cannot just remove

<div id="credits">Designed by: <a href="http://projectserverhosting.com/enterprise-project-management/">Enterprise Project management</a> | Thanks to <a href="http://businessemailhosting.com/">Email Hosting</a>, <a href="http://virtualdesktoponline.com/cloud-desktop/">Cloud Desktop</a> and <a href="http://mssharepointhosting.com/hosted-sharepoint/">Hosted SharePoint</a></div><!-- #credits -->

because then the theme shuts down my website until I reset it. Litterally!

Help?