The Digital Media Project

Source

Philip Merrill

Title

TRU #11 Right to attribution

No.

040323merrill03

 

Name:

Philip Merrill

Affiliation/additional information:

Active Contributor, Pasadena, California

Date submitted:

2004/03/23

 

#

Criteria

Description

1.

Name of TRU

Right to attribution

2.

Summary description of TRU

Defined narrowly for DMP process as the right to assert authorship of media for which a source is not given (or an incorrect source is given), in other words the right to demonstrate that one's name should be attached to an uncredited (or miscredited) work as that work's creator. The term is used elsewhere as largely synonymous with TRU to be recognized as the author (paternity).

3.

Use records of TRU

The case described here for specification-development purposes falls within the larger right of paternity (also known as attribution) and so is founded on the condition that an author or other creator deserves credit for a work or quote that is either unattributed or misattributed. It is not believed that this is a common occurrence for entire works, but this does occur all too often for quotes. While there might be cases in which plagiarism is involved, the key circumstance this is intended to refer to is that the credit-entitled creator begins in a credit-denied state while his work is in some published presentation but the creator is able to assert this TRU attribution and regain the credit to which they are entitled.

4.

Nature of TRU

Legally supported. See also 59. TRU moral rights, with respect to the nature of moral rights generally. More specifically, see 22. TRU to be recognized as the author (paternity), of which this TRU is considered a specific, somewhat-narrow instance. Note that the distinction between attribution (11) and misattribution (23) is a feature of U.S. copyright law for visual artists at 17 U.S.C. 106A(a)(1) (A) & (B).

5.

Benefits of TRU

Benefits Right-holders and End-users. Constrains other Right-holders.

6.

Possible digital support

The absolutist nature of moral rights lends itself to an information technology approach being as it embodies easily distinguished factual information that can be stored and provided readily through both a server system and databases protected by some sort of trusted digital repository (TDR, ref. RLG/OCLC report).

7.

Requirements

DMP shall support the right of attribution (in this case used narrowly)
8. References