[cc-community] CC needs a default form of attribution?

Rob Myers rob at robmyers.org
Sun Apr 27 07:24:16 EDT 2008


Chris Watkins wrote:
> I can't figure out how attribution works in CC licenses - it looks to me 
> like there's a problem in the licenses' wording.
> 
>  From iterating toward openness - Why Not CC By? 
> <http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/366>:  'The Attribution 
> requirement of all CC licenses, including CC By, states "You must 
> attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor." 
> Now, I ask you - have you ever seen a page with a CC license that 
> specifies how the work should be attributed?'

In the absence of specified attribution, fall back to BY section 4.b:

"[...]provide, reasonable to the medium or means You are utilizing: (i) 
the name of the Original Author (or pseudonym, if applicable) if 
supplied [...] in a manner at least as prominent as the credits for the 
other contributing authors"

> * The CC licenses should specify a default form of attribution. Optional 
> plugins to specify a different form (as suggested in the blog post 
> above) would be nice, but less urgent.

They do, but in the legal code not in the title deed.

I agree that some clear examples would be good to point to.

- Rob.


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