Home > Staff > Graphic Attribution

This page is intended to assist authors in properly giving attribution when using copyrighted graphics. A complete analysis of the concepts of public domain and fair use can be found on this site. 

It is imperative that our authors understand that the onus of researching the licenses that apply to graphics being used in their cards falls on them.  Each license is different and there is no way for this page to cover all variations. 

When incorporating graphics, there are several questions you must ask yourself regarding the image's license and the image's use in your card. 

Does the license allow you to copy the image and use it in electronic media for a non-commercial website?  If not, you cannot use the image at all.

Are you modifying the original image?  This would include cropping the image, adding an arrow to the image, and changing the colors of the image.  If so, the license must specify that modifications or derivatives are allowed. 

If the license allows modifying the image, does it require that you also license the image to allow modifications? 

Does the license require attribution to the copyright holder? If so do you know the name (or alias) of the copyright holder?

Does the license require a link to the license text?  If so, what is the link to that text?

Using the bulk editor it is possible to include an attribution and license link at the bottom of the card.  The format of the code is shown below. Text you should edit appears in green while text that must remain constant is in red. 

<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><font size=1>Image owned by XXXXXX and licensed under the XXXXXXXX License.<br /><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/" target="_blank">Official License</a></font>


<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - this controls the number of line breaks between the question text and the attribution text.  You can add or delete tags as needed
<font size=1> - this sets the font size to be small
Image is owned by XXXXXX and licensed under the XXXXXXX License - this is the editable region in which you enter the attribution text and license info required by the license of the graphic you are using
<br /><a href=" - this starts a new line for the link that follows
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ - insert the link for the license here
" target="_blank"> - ends the code for the link and instructs the link to open in a new tab/window
Official License insert the text you want to show for the link here
</a></font> - finishes the hyperlink and code for the attribution

If coded correctly, the code will insert the following into your flashcard.

Image owned by XXXXXX and licensed under the XXXXXXXX License.
Official License

Images that require attribution must be attributed every time they are used. If you use an identical image on both sides of a flashcard, it should be attributed on both sides of the card.

Creative Commons
Creative Commons is an organization that has defined an alternative to copyrights by filling in the gap between full copyright, in which no use is permitted without permission, and public domain, where permission is not required at all. Creative Commons’ licenses let people copy and distribute the work under specific conditions.

There are more than a dozen different Creative Commons licenses available and they each have several different versions.  All images licensed under Creative Commons have "baseline rights" which allows a user to copy the work (image), to distribute it, and to display it publicly. There are 4 other conditions allowed/required by some of the Creative Commons licenses and prohibited by others:

  • Attribution: You may copy, distribute, and display the work and make derivative works based upon it only if you give the author or licensor the credits in the manner specified by the license.

  • Noncommercial or NonCommercial (nc): You may copy, distribute, and display the work and make derivative works based upon it only for noncommercial purposes.

  • No Derivative Works or NoDerivs (nd): You may copy, distribute, and display only verbatim copies of the work, not derivative works based upon it.

  • ShareAlike (sa): You may distribute derivative or modified works only under a license identical to the license that governs the original work.

Typical text for attribution of a Creative commons license would be:

Image owned by John Doe and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.
Official License

The most recent Creative Commons Licenses are Version 3.0 and can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/. Direct links to the license should be provided under the attribution text.  The most common license types are linked to below.

  1. Attribution - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
  2. Attribution-NoDerivs - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/
  3. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
  4. Attribution-NonCommercial - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
  5. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
  6. Attribution-ShareAlike - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Please keep in mind that the Creative Commons licenses not only come in the 6 types detailed above, but they also come in Versions 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, and 1.0.  Therefore, there are actually 24 permutations of the above attribution text and link.  Please verify that you are attributing the correct license type and linking to the correct version on your cards.  Also, please not that the above list is not comprehensive because there are some rarely used varieties of the license that are not mentioned above.  As always, please contact us if you have any questions about image attribution.

GNU Free Documentation License
This license is much more suited for large projects. Entire sites/books/programs are often copyrighted with the GNU license. Any portion of a site/book/program that is GNU licensed will also fall under the license and can therefore be used/distributed.  The exact attribution to be included when using GFDL images is a bit unclear.  The license states:

"For simple redistribution, include the version you were given access to and its complete history with attribution, and include the GFDL (linked on the same website or reprinted in print). Re-users are free to make derivative works and copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, even commercially. To comply, (a) release your version under the GFDL, (b) credit at least the five most substantial authors or content creators and (c) include a complete copy of the GFDL. In the case of derivative works you must also include the complete history section."

Typical text for attribution of a GNU FDL license would be:

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this image under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation by John Doe; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
Official License

The most recent GNU FDL license is located at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.txt.

When writing flashcards, we suggest you place the following attribution on the card itself and then link to a full attribution at http://www.freeworldu.org/static/GNU_attribution.aspx. The abbreviated attribution should read:

Image owned by John Doe under GNU FDL 1.2. Full Attribution

The proper code for this in your cards would be:
<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><font size=1>Image owned by XXXXXX under GNU FDL 1.2. <a href="http://www.freeworldu.org/static/GNU_attribution.aspx" target="_blank">Full Attribution</a></font>