Reference Glossary
Attribution requirement
A licence condition mandating that the creator or source be credited in a specified form wherever the asset is used, common in Creative Commons BY licences and some stock agreements.
Why it matters in a DAM
A DAM should store the exact required attribution text as a structured field that auto-populates into captions and credit lines at the point of publishing, because manually retyping attribution correctly, every time, at scale, is where compliance actually breaks down — a designer working fast under deadline is the person most likely to skip a credit line that only existed in a spreadsheet nobody consulted.
A worked example
Common mistake
Publishing a CC BY-licensed image without the credit line because the attribution text lived in a licensing spreadsheet or the photographer's original email, disconnected from the asset record in the DAM where the publishing team actually worked.
An attribution requirement obligates whoever uses a licensed asset to credit its creator or source in a specified way — a name, a link back to the source, sometimes a link to the licence itself. It’s the defining condition of every Creative Commons licence except CC0 (the “BY” in CC BY stands for this requirement), and it also shows up in some stock agreements and open-data terms.
Attribution is easy to satisfy correctly and easy to violate by accident, because the requirement travels with the asset but the credit text itself has to be manually reproduced wherever the asset is published — a blog post, a slide deck, a social caption. If the exact required wording only exists in the original licence document or a contributor’s message, it gets lost the moment the asset moves into general circulation inside an organization.
Storing the attribution text as a structured field on the asset — not a note, a dedicated field the publishing workflow can pull from automatically — turns a manual compliance step into something the system enforces by default, which is the only way it scales past a handful of assets.
Frequently asked
What does an attribution requirement obligate a user to do?
An attribution requirement obligates the user to credit the creator or source every time the asset appears, in a specified format rather than a generic mention. Typically this means naming the author, linking back to the source or license page, and following any wording the licensor specifies—for example, 'Photo by [name], licensed under CC BY 2.0.' The credit must sit near the asset itself, in a caption or metadata panel, not buried on a separate credits page.
Which Creative Commons licences require attribution?
Every Creative Commons licence whose name contains 'BY' requires attribution: CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC-SA, and CC BY-NC-ND. The 'BY' element is the one condition none of these six licences waive, regardless of whether they also restrict commercial use or derivative works. Only CC0, a public domain dedication, and true Public Domain content are attribution-free—every other Creative Commons licence obligates the user to credit the original creator.
Why does attribution compliance often break down in practice?
The exact required wording travels with the licence document or a contributor's original email, but gets lost once the asset moves into general internal circulation without that text attached to the DAM record.
How should the DAM store attribution text to make compliance reliable?
As a structured field on the asset itself that the publishing workflow can pull from automatically, rather than a note in a licensing spreadsheet disconnected from where publishing teams actually work.
Who is most likely to skip a required credit line, and why?
Marketing and social media teams publishing on tight, fast-moving schedules are the most common source of missed attribution. They often pull an asset already sitting in the library—reused from an old campaign—without checking the licensing terms attached to that file, assuming prior approval still applies. Under deadline pressure, the credit line becomes an easy step to skip, especially when the DAM doesn't surface attribution text automatically, leaving compliance dependent on someone remembering to look it up manually.
Besides Creative Commons, where else does attribution show up?
Attribution requirements extend well beyond Creative Commons. Stock photo libraries often attach attribution as a condition of extended or editorial licenses. Partnership agreements covering shared content frequently specify how each party must be credited when reusing the other's assets. Freelance photographer and illustrator contracts commonly include a credit clause alongside or instead of payment terms. Editorial usage under agency conditions—wire services and news photo agencies—also typically mandates a credit line naming the photographer or source agency.
Sources
- Attribution (BY) is required in all six standard Creative Commons licences; only the separate CC0 tool waives it. checked 2026-08-07 — Creative Commons, License Types