Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.

They provide free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, use commercially, or any combination thereof.

Attributing Creative Commons Works

1. Keep intact any copyright notices for the Work

  • If the original Work has a copyright notice, then include it when you use or cite the Work

2. Credit the author, licensor and/or other parties in the manner they specify

  • If creator says, “Please attribute John Smith” then attribute John Smith
  • If there is no note but a copyright notice, attribute the copyright holder
  • If no note and no notice, but a username, check the creator’s profile for more information
  • If there is none of the above, attribute the website by name

3. Include the Title of the Work

  • If the Work has a title, then include it
  • If the Work has no title, use appropriate reference: “Untitled” by John Smith

4. Include the URL for the Work if applicable

  • Link back to the original source wherever possible
  • Some print uses may allow for alternatives

5. Include the URL for the Creative Commons license that applies
6. Derivative works should acknowledge the derivation

On the Internet or in other electronic resources, links to sources and licenses may be embedded within the document and appear as:

An Ideal Attribution

This video features the song “Play Your Part (Pt.1)” by Girl Talk, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. © 2008, Greg Gillis.

A Realistic Attribution

Photo by mollyali, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.

A Derivative Work Attribution

This is a video adaptation of the novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license. Copyright © 2003 Cory Doctorow.

A PDF version of this document is also available for download.

Creative Commons License
Document by Anthony Helm. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. It is derived and includes text from Molly Kleinman http:// mollykleinman.com/2008/08/15/cc-howto-1-how-to-attribute-a-creative-commons-licensed-work/.