Copyright for Staff: Attributions

You must attribute all materials you use regardless of licence!

Consider TASL in thinking about what you need to include in your attribution:

T:     Title
A:     Author
S:     Source
L:     Licence  
It is possible the author/creator has provided licence information so be sure to check!

Here is the standard text and basic layout for each of the five main types of attribution.  These are recommended approaches.  Key is including enough content for others to be able to find the material you have sourced.

• Replace the text in brackets [ ] with the relevant information from your third party material.  
• For more examples, see the More Attribution Examples box.

Material owned by South Metropolitan TAFE:

© South Metropolitan TAFE, [insert Year].

Material copied with permission of the copyright owner:

© Reproduced and made available for copying and communication by South Metropolitan TAFE for its educational purposes by [insert copyright owner].

Material copied under Creative Commons (content unchanged):

[Title of Work] by [Owner] is licenced under [Version of CC Licence (link to URL)] [CC licence logo]. Information regarding the CC licence may also be provided by inserting a hyperlink within the CC logo image to the licence itself. This style of attribution is for digital resources only.

Material from the Library Licenced Databases:

No attribution required where a link to the original is provided.  You may link to the entire item (article, ejournal, ebook).  It is strongly advised that only links are provided.

Material copied under Statutory Licence in Section 113P (include enough information to be able to locate the owner of the information; date viewed is helpful to include but not vital):

      Copied under s 113P [link to notice if communicating electronically] of the Copyright Act.
      Producer Surname, Initial. (Producers). ([Year]). Title. Network.  Viewed [date].

      Copied under s 113P [link to notice if communicating electronically] of the Copyright Act.
      Author Surname, Initial. Title [hyperlink title]. Publisher.  Viewed [date].

• In an electronic environment, the attribution, including any links to Notices or source material as required, should be as close as possible to the relevant material. If it cannot be directly adjacent, then it should at least be on the same page. You can use a small font, and a lighter text colour, so long as it is visible.

• If you are doing multiple attributions under s113P in a PowerPoint presentation, it would be sufficient to include an intro or closing slide with the attribution information, using a numbering and referencing system. However, under each item of third party content, you should clearly direct readers to the list of references.  

• It is not appropriate to do mouse-over attribution and in some cases you are not legally permitted to do so. The attribution must be visible when the page is printed out.

As GenAI is continually changing, Copyright bodies around the the world are grappling with ownership.  This means there are no clear guidelines on how to attribute or reference.  A number of organisations offer some guidance, though this is limited.

• General TAFE guidance on copyright and using generative AI platforms is available from SmartCopying.
• While you might be able to freely create content/new images from different tools, you also need to read their licencing information as some allow you to take ownership of what you create, others may require a Creative Commons licence.  It is important to check the terms of use.

As generative AI is a rapidly evolving, there are likely to be changes.  Please re-visit on a regular basis! 

• To attribute "new" works generated:
  'This work has been generated using [insert name of tool].  Any copyright subsisting in this work is owned by South Metropolitan TAFE.'
• To attribute "modified" works generated:
  'This work has been generated using [insert name of AI tool] and has been copied/made available to you under the educational provisions of the Copyright Act.  Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Copyright Act.  Do not remove this notice.'

You may also like to check out:

• Artificial Intelligence & Copyright guide from the Australian Copyright Council.
• TAFE Qld's Text and Images GenAI Attribution Guide

Box last updated 16/8/2024

• In a print environment, your Licence statement should be on the verso of your document (the page to the left of the title page).
• You should seek permission from the copyright owner where necessary.  You should also include full and proper referencing for all third-party content.