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Copyright attributions

Find out how to acknowledge copyright material so you can give credit to creators and comply with legal and policy requirements.

The following guidance only applies if the copyright owner has given you permission to use their work or you've confirmed that the material you want to use is covered by an exception or licence.

Every time you use copyright material in your teaching resources or delivery, you need to include an attribution to legally acknowledge the creator and licence (or permission). You might have used citations before, but they're a bit different – citations are used to indicate the source of ideas and information and don't include any licence info.

If you use the Library's unit readings service to create a list of resources for your students, the attributions will be added for you (and the links will be checked and updated every week).

What are moral rights?

Moral rights connect creators to their work, even if they no longer hold copyright.
Right of attribution
A creator has the right to be identified and named as the creator of their work.
Right against false attribution
A creator has the right to stop someone else from being credited as the creator of their work.
Right of integrity
A creator has the right to stop their work being treated in a way that harms their honour or reputation.

How to attribute work to the creator

Whenever you use the work of another person to create or deliver learning materials, you should include an attribution.

If possible, an attribution should include:

  • title of work
  • author/creator
  • source (where you found it)
  • licence/permission type (what the content was made available under)

There's no set way to format attributions. You can use an academic citation style or just write the title, author, source and licence (e.g. 'Outdoor Exploration' by Helle Thorn (hellethorn.com.au) is licensed under CC BY 4.0 BY).

You can use the following terminology to describe the licence or permission:

  • Permission granted: used with permission
  • Creative Commons: is licenced under CC 4.0 BY (or licence type)
  • Education licence s.113P: reproduced under s.113P
  • Database licence: under licence
  • Content allowed for educational use: used with permission
  • Copyright expired or rights waived: public domain
  • Federation owned: © Federation University

Stuck on the wording? Use one of these copyright attribution examples to get started.

Place an attribution as close to the copyright material as possible. Here are some suggestions:

  • Text (non-academic): below or beside, as a footnote, in a list at the end of the document
  • Text (academic): use appropriate citation style
  • Image: below or beside (or in ALT text if necessary)
  • Film/tv/podcasts: at point when the material is used, in notes on site where content is available

Use the details you have, and note the missing information and how you intend to add it later if you find it. (e.g. 'Author details unknown. Unable to identify creator after diligent search.')

Contact us

If you have any questions about copyright, please email copyright@federation.edu.au or call (03) 5327 9876.