Attribution Statements
Attributions
Regardless of the Creative Commons license assigned to a work, all CC licenses require at least an attribution to the original creator of the work (the “BY” part of a CC license). Below are some examples of how to create attribution statements for text and media items that are incorporated into Open at Scale projects.
Examples of attribution statements
All Creative Commons licenses contain an attribution (BY) clause. This means that you must include a statement that gives credit to, or attributes, the creator of the work from which you have borrowed, whether it is text, an image, a video, or another item. If you have made a change, indicate that in your attribution statement.
As far as how and where to place attribution statements for text or media taken from another source or sources, best practices state that you should place them at the bottom of each affected web page. Clearly mark all of these with a heading called: “Attributions”. Several attribution statements can be listed under this heading. Here are examples.
Example of an attribution statement for adapted text
This chapter is an adaptation of Natural Disasters and Human Impacts (on Open Geography Education) by R. Adam Dastrup and Maura Hahnenberger, and is used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International license.
Note:
- The statement is clear, simple, and contains all elements required for a complete attribution: title of the work used, author(s), and license type. A link is provided to the original work, the home page of the website (this is optional), and the license type.
- There is no need to name the adapting author in this statement.
- At the bottom of the Chapter page in Pressbooks, there is an option to set the license type for that page which will override, for this page only, the overarching license chosen for the book on the Book Info page.
- If the chapter contains some original material AND some material from another source, then rather than saying “This chapter is an adaptation of….”, say “This chapter contains material taken from….”.
Example of an attribution statement for an adapted image
Figure 1.2
Dog by David Locke is used under a CC BY 2.0 license. Modifications to this photo include cropping.
Note:
- The statement is clear, simple and contains all elements required for a complete attribution: title of the image, photographer, and license type, as well as a note of the changes made. A link is provided to the original work, the home page of the photographer (if available), and the license type.
- For Open at Scale projects, attribution should also be included directly below a media item.
Keep a record of all changes and additions
As the author, you retain copyright of all new material you create. This means that even if the new material you create is released under an open license, you will receive attribution for your contribution.
As you edit and make changes (text and images) and/or add new material to pre-existing resources, such as a chapter or section within a chapter, keep a list so these additions/changes:
- Can be included as part of the Copyright Notice
- Can be accurately attributed to you, the author
Minor changes, such as fixing grammatical or spelling mistakes, don’t need to be documented.
Attributions
This chapter contains material from the BC Open Textbook Adaptation Guide by BCcampus and is used under a CC BY 4.0 international license. Download this book for free at http://open.bccampus.ca.
The chapter as a whole was adapted from B.C. Open Faculty OER Toolkit by Shannon Moist used under a CC BY 4.0 international license. Download this book for free at http://open.bccampus.ca