Attribution Is a Must, but It Isn’t a Get‑Out‑of‑Jail‑Free Card

By Julie A. Greenberg

Giving credit to an author is a nice gesture, but not knowing the rules can get you into trouble.

Everyone remembers stories about well-known people who suffer a very public “black eye” for failing to give credit when they “borrow” from another’s works.  Think, e.g.:

• Then‑Senator Joe Biden, in 1987, who withdrew from the U.S. presidential race after acknowledging that he failed to give attribution to closely tracked speeches of others.
• Melania Trump’s Republican National Convention speech in 2016 which borrowed more than a little of Michelle Obama’s speech (“your word is your bond”), drawing widespread criticism over unattributed borrowing.
• New York Times reporter Jayson Blair, who resigned in 2013 after the Times determined he had copied passages from other publications (and fabricated elements of his reporting).
• Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, who publicly acknowledged citation failures in earlier works after plagiarism concerns surfaced, prompting the loss of her position on the Pulitzer Prize board and revisions and changes to her research practices.

Giving credit through attribution is expected, and an ethical must – even if you’re reusing your own earlier content. Plagiarizing can get you kicked out of school or possibly fired from your job. It always looks bad, and is so easy to avoid: so it’s important to give credit where credit is due.

But it’s a common misconception that giving credit is all that’s required to safely reuse content. Not so. While attribution addresses plagiarism, it does nothing to protect you from plagiarism’s bigger, meaner cousin: copyright infringement.

While plagiarism is a bad look, with social and professional consequences, copyright infringement, by contrast, is a serious legal issue, with possible serious monetary penalties. It occurs when a copyrighted work is used without authorization or a valid legal defense, even if the original author is identified. Giving credit does not create a license, nor does it excuse unauthorized copying.

Importantly, attribution can actually raise the stakes in a copyright infringement claim.  The acknowledgement makes infringement claims easier to prove, and may establish willful infringement, since it establishes that you knew it was not your own—facts that can undercut defenses such as independent creation and increase potential legal exposure. In this content-driven economy, where digital use can never really be erased, knowing the rules is important.

The takeaway:

• Attribution helps avoid plagiarism.
• Permission (or fair use) is required to avoid copyright infringement.
• When in doubt, consult an IP attorney.  Securing rights may be the best way to avoid liability.

Julie Greenberg is a partner at Fishman Stewart. She has more than 30 years of experience in intellectual property protection for her clients, focusing on worldwide trademark prosecution and protection.