Attribution FAQ

DeeAnn Ivie

DeeAnn Ivie

Learning Objectives

Understand answers to common questions around attributing when reusing and remixing

How do I attribute works used at the book level in UTSA Pressbooks?

Attributing Works Used

Pressbooks Admin > Book Info > Source

Do I need to include “unless where otherwise noted?”

The Creative Commons recommended format^[1] for attributing does not include this as an essential component of the attribution statement. However, Pressbooks will do this automatically for all books in the case that a chapter of a book has a different license than the overall book. We need to go further down this rabbit hole of how this is possible. A hunch: it has to do with fair use^[2] , and Creative Commons works are not excepted from fair use.

Which is preferable: “Licensed Under” or “Licensed?”

The Open Attribution Builder ^[3]adds Licensed Under as the default whenever you create an attribution statement using that tool. However, you do not have to preface your copyright statement or your attribution statement with “Licensed Under.” You can opt for the more concise “Licensed.”

When re-using another CC-licensed work, who do I list as the author? The original author or myself?

It depends. How much has the book been changed from its original version? If minimal surface changes were made, it’s recommended to retain the original author as the author. If more work went into putting the book into Pressbooks from another format, including creating a custom cover image with plans for additional tailoring, it makes sense to list the adapter as the author. This is where the attribution statement saves us: because you are linking out to the original book, users will be able to see the original source.

Do I need to put quotes around a book title when attributing?

No, this is not necessary. The attribution statement is cleaner without them. Do use quotes for image attributions, though.

How do I attribute multiple authors?

List all authors.

Example

Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies and Operations. / R. K. Nichols; J.J.C.H. Ryan; H.C. Mumm; C. Carter; W.D. Lonstein; and J.P. Hood. CC-BY-NC- SA

Is it okay to use a license acronym when attributing? For example, CC-BY instead of Creative Commons Attribution?

Yes, because you will link to the full license. It’s not wrong to spell out the full license, but it’s also not necessary. Both the abbreviated and the extended version are fine but the abbreviated looks cleaner.

Examples

Both are acceptable, as they link out to the license with more information:

How do attribute works used at the chapter level in UTSA Pressbooks?

If the chapter only contains material from another source and the material has not been changed (i.e., not adapted), then use an attribution statement like below.

Borrowed Text (No Changes Made)

This chapter is comprised of text taken from Chapter 2.2 of Physical Geography and Natural Disasters by R. Adam Dastrup and is used under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. No changes have been made nor original material added.

Borrowed Text Merged with Original Text

If the chapter contains some original material AND some material from another source, then use “This chapter contains material taken from….”.^[4]

Do I need to keep track of changes I make throughout a derivative book?

According to the Creative Commons FAQ, you must indicate if you have modified the work in your attribution statement. It is a good idea to keep track of changes that were made to the original text through track changes. It is not necessary to note trivial alterations, such as correcting a typo or changing a font size. Finally, you must retain an indication of previous modifications to the work.

Do I need to note in my attribution if the book is a derivative of another book?

If you are creating a manual attribution, you do not need to add this as part of your attribution statement. You only need to list Title, Author, Source, and License. But you can note this if you would like.

If you use the Open Attribution Builder, it will ask if the book is a derivative of another book. If it is, you can select that, and then provide the URL for the original book. The Open Attribution builder will add this to your attribution statement.

When you clone a book in Pressbooks, it will add all of the attribution information for the original. Under Book Info > Copyright > Source Book URL