User:Animalparty/commons attribution

DICLAIMER: This is a userpage and workspace for discussing and developing community guidelines. It is a work in progress representing the opinions of one or more editors. It is not to be mistaken for a Commons guideline or policy.

When an image is modified and a new version is uploaded, either as an overwrite or as a new file, there can be confusion over who should be credited as author, and which license the new image falls under. This page offers suggestions for fairly and lawfully giving credit where credit is due. Keep in mind that there may be a grey area in determining how much modification is sufficient to claim new authorship.

When cropping an image, copyright and authorship remain unchanged, no matter the size of the new file is or whether it overwrites an existing file, or whether the crop involves a simple rectangular crop or extracting an element from a more complicated background. {{Extracted image}} should be used. Attribution for making the crop will appear in the file upload history.

When retouching images, such as correcting blemishes or colorizing, the threshold of originality should be considered. If the changes are merely removing dark specks or converting a color photograph in grayscale version, then original copyright and author should be upheld. If the changes radically change the appearance of the image, such as a historic black and white photograph colorized for the first time, then consider using {{Retouched}} and listing both the original and colorizer as authors. If the color change is radical and unlikely to be confused with the original, such as a colorized photograph in an non-realistic color scheme, then {{Derivative}} may be warranted, perhaps alongside {{Retouched}}.

When adding new content to an image, you are likely creating a derivative work. You own the license to the new additions and the derivative work as a whole, but the license of the source material remains unchanged. For example, if you add wings to a picture of a dog, or create a collage compiled from multiple sources, you have created a derivative work. Appropriate sourcing may be indicated by {{Derivative}}.
However, if your additions are simple lines, numbers, or arrows, such as adding labels to a diagram, the threshold of originality may not have been crossed, and you might consider leaving the license and author unchanged, or attributing "Original author (modifications by X)" The original should be included in the other versions field.

{{Infosplit}} can separate information on the original from the derivative.

Outline of recommendations

• Did you remove content from an image?
  • Yes: Use {{Extracted from}} or {{Retouched}}, use original license and author.

• Did you add new content to an image? (regardless of whether the new content is your original creation or other free material)
  • Yes:
    • Does the new content substantially change the original or how the image will be understood? (examples include adding wings to a picture of a dog, or creating a collage compiled from multiple sources)
      • Yes: {{Derivative}} with new author
      • No, the new content is minimal and below the threshold of originality (such as a scale bar at the bottom of an image, or arrows pointing to a portion of an image): Consider leaving original author and license, perhaps with {{Derivative}}, and/or {{Infosplit}} to indicate who authored which elements.

• Did you rearrange existing elements of an image without adding or removing anything?
  • Yes:
    • Does the rearrangement simply reposition elements to better utilize space?
      • Yes: use {{Retouched}}, original license and author
      • No:
        • Does the rearrangement create an original appearance that would be not be expected or assumed from viewing the original (such as a series of small elements rearranged to form the shape of a smiley face)?
          • This is probably {{Derivative}}

• Commons:Threshold of originality
• Category:Commons essays