Attribution - Do I Have to Do It?
What is Attribution?
Attribution is crediting the trademark or copyright holder of an original work whenever you use someone else’s work in your story. Although Dokuga has a blanket Disclaimer (another word for Attribution) at the bottom of each page for InuYasha, the manga and the anime, you MUST credit other people’s original work if you use it in a story.
What Sorts of Things Must I Attribute?
The #1 most overlooked attribution is that of song lyrics. You MUST attribute any song lyrics you use with the title of the song and, if possible, the name of the group performing it.
This must be done in the Author’s Notes.
If you base your story on a published work, you must make sure to include the writer’s name and, if possible, the publisher in your Author’s Notes. In addition, you MAY NOT use another author’s published work word for word. Word for word copying of someone else’s story and changing only a few items is called Plagiarism. That will be dealt with in another tutorial.
Technically, any brand names that you use in stories should be attributed. Most companies do not go to the extent of prosecuting those who reference their brands, but one never knows when a company will do exactly that. For your sake, and the sake of the site, please try to keep that in mind when using brand names in your stories.
Again, attributions should go in your Author’s Notes.
If you are found to be writing a story based on another published work, a cross-over with another anime, or song lyrics without attribution, you will be warned ONCE. If not corrected, your story will be deleted. Please do your part to keep our site safe and remember to attribute!
~~Wiccan~~
PS - As usual, if you think you may have put something that is copyrighted or trademarked by others in your story, please do the necessary attribution BEFORE I am forced to warn you, thanks!!
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