# Asset Licensing And Attribution Pack
Facilitator Handout 10
Module Focus: licensing, attribution, reuse decisions, and asset tracking for images, audio, video, and 3D media used in educational game projects
Best Use: use this handout before teams begin importing outside assets or publishing final artifacts, especially when students or educators assume that “free online” means reusable
| [FRAME] |
[MAP] |
[ACTION] |
[CHECK] |
[EVIDENCE] |
[RISK] |
[LINKS] |
Rights Lens
Strong projects do not only look polished. They can also explain where every external asset came from, what the reuse terms are, and how attribution or redistribution obligations were handled.
## [FRAME] Purpose
This handout gives facilitators and project teams a practical framework for handling:
- image and audio reuse
- icon and UI asset sourcing
- 3D model and texture reuse
- attribution formatting
- student and educator publication decisions
- asset provenance tracking
It is designed for educational contexts where teams often combine original work with openly licensed, institutionally licensed, or borrowed reference materials.
## [FRAME] Core Principles
1. `Findable is not reusable`
2. `Openly licensed is not the same as no conditions`
3. `Attribution needs documentation, not memory`
4. `Student teams should track source information at the moment of download, not at the end`
5. `Software licenses and media licenses are not interchangeable`
## [MAP] Asset Decision Flow
```mermaid
flowchart TD
A["Need an asset"] --> B["Can the team create it?"]
B -->|Yes| C["Original asset"]
B -->|No| D["Look for reusable source"]
D --> E["Check license and reuse terms"]
E -->|Clear and acceptable| F["Record source and attribution"]
E -->|Unclear or incompatible| G["Do not use"]
F --> H["Import into project"]
H --> I["Track modifications and final credits"]
```
## [MAP] Asset Governance Loop
```mermaid
flowchart LR
A["source found"] --> B["license checked"]
B --> C["asset logged"]
C --> D["asset used or modified"]
D --> E["final attribution generated"]
E --> F["publication review"]
F --> C
```
## [ACTION] What To Track For Every External Asset
| Field | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| asset title or identifier | helps you locate the original work again |
| creator name | required for many attribution cases |
| source URL | documents provenance |
| license type | determines what is allowed |
| modification status | some licenses or publishing contexts need this clarified |
| date accessed | useful when pages or terms later change |
| project use | tells reviewers where the asset actually appears |
| attribution text draft | prevents last-minute scrambling |
## [ACTION] Asset Register Template
Use a spreadsheet or table like this from the beginning of the project.
| Asset | Type | Source | Creator | License | Modified | Used In | Attribution Ready |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| classroom_ambience_loop | audio | source URL | creator name | license | yes/no | prototype menu | yes/no |
| low_poly_lab_scene | 3D model | source URL | creator name | license | yes/no | scene 1 | yes/no |
| warning_icon_set | UI icons | source URL | creator name | license | yes/no | HUD feedback | yes/no |
## [ACTION] Practical License Questions
Before using any asset, ask:
- Can we legally reuse it?
- Can we modify it?
- Can we publish it inside a student or public-facing project?
- Must we attribute it?
- Will our final distribution context create extra obligations?
- Is the license actually documented clearly on the source page?
## [ACTION] What To Teach About Creative Commons
Use the Creative Commons chooser and explainer pages to teach basic distinctions:
- attribution may still be required even when reuse is allowed
- some licenses limit commercial reuse
- some licenses require adaptations to stay under the same license
- `CC0` is different from a standard CC license
Important implementation note:
The Creative Commons chooser explains that `CC licenses are not recommended for software or hardware`; for software, teams should use a software-appropriate license instead.
## [ACTION] Open Asset Search Caution
Openverse documentation is useful because it makes one important caution explicit: even when search results aggregate openly licensed works, `license information should still be verified on the original work page before use`.
Do not let teams stop at the search result. Require them to inspect the source page and log the result.
## [ACTION] Attribution Templates
### Minimal Credit Line
`Title` by `Creator`, used under `License`, source: `URL`
### Modified Asset Credit Line
`Title` by `Creator`, modified for this project, used under `License`, source: `URL`
### Credits Slide Or Credits Screen Format
- asset name
- creator
- license
- original source link
- note if modified
## [ACTION] Publication Review Questions
| Review Question | If Yes | If No |
|---|---|---|
| do we know where every external asset came from | proceed to final checks | stop and reconstruct the asset log |
| are all reused assets under terms compatible with the project | generate final credits | replace the incompatible assets |
| is attribution prepared in a visible location | publish with confidence | create credits before release |
| were any assets taken from unclear sources | remove or replace | continue |
## [RISK] Common Licensing Failure Modes
| Failure Mode | What It Looks Like | Why It Happens | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| “found online” sourcing | the team cannot name the original creator | assets were gathered informally | require live asset logging during development |
| reference/production confusion | a temporary placeholder ends up in the final build | no asset freeze review happened | run a pre-release provenance sweep |
| copied attribution | teams paste license labels without checking the source page | they trust aggregator metadata blindly | verify at the original source |
| mixed rights chaos | some assets are original, some borrowed, some unclear | nobody owns rights management | assign one team member as asset steward |
| software/media license confusion | code snippets and media assets are handled the same way | teams lack basic licensing vocabulary | teach asset type differences explicitly |
## [ACTION] Mitigation Strategies
| If You Notice... | Then Do This |
|---|---|
| teams are downloading first and documenting later | stop the workflow and require an asset register before more imports |
| attribution text is inconsistent | give them one house template and require uniform formatting |
| a key asset has unclear provenance | replace it rather than rationalize the risk |
| students are using screenshots from copyrighted games as production art | separate `reference` use from `ship` use immediately |
## [CHECK] Critical Thinking Prompts
- Which asset in this project creates the greatest legal or ethical uncertainty?
- Are we choosing this asset because it supports the learning goal, or because it is the easiest visual shortcut?
- What would happen if we had to prove the source and terms for every asset in a public review?
- Which of our current assets could be replaced with original or simpler alternatives to reduce licensing risk?
- Does our publication plan change the licensing stakes compared with classroom-only use?
## [LINKS] Official References
- Creative Commons chooser: [https://creativecommons.org/choose/?format=image](https://creativecommons.org/choose/?format=image)
- Creative Commons share your work: [https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/](https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/)
- Openverse API note on verifying licenses: [https://docs.openverse.org/api/reference/made_with_ov.html](https://docs.openverse.org/api/reference/made_with_ov.html)
- Khronos glTF home: [https://www.khronos.org/gltf/](https://www.khronos.org/gltf/)
## [LINKS] Internal Navigation
- [05-threejs-foundations-learning-pack.md]()
- [07-additional-learning-resources.md]()
- [00-master-curriculum-atlas.md]()