Attribution (copyright)

Creative Commons license symbol for attribution.

Attribution in copyright law, is acknowledgement as credit the author of a work which is used or appears in another work. Attribution is sometimes required by licenses that specific the usage rights, such as the GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons licenses.

Attribution is often considered the most basic of requirements made by a license, as it allows an author to accumulate a positive reputation that partially repays their work and prevents others from claiming fraudulently to have produced the work. It is widely regarded as a sign of decency and respect to acknowledge the creator by giving him/her credit for the work.

See also

• Acknowledgment (creative arts)
• Credit (creative arts)