April 29, 2025
What is Provenance?
A few people replied to my last message to ask what I meant by “provenance” in the context of content creation.
To keep myself honest, let’s start with a basic definition of the word (from AI, of course):
Provenance refers to the history of ownership and the place of origin of something, particularly in relation to art, antiquities, or other valuable items. It involves tracing the ownership of an object from its creation to the present, including information about previous owners, exhibitions, and sales.
I first encountered the word “provenance” a couple years ago when I was slipping down the rabbit hole into the world of luxury watches.
(A descent, by the way, that I was able to reverse without intervention from my friends and family. But that’s a story for another day.)
Seeing this definition now makes me realize that my usage in yesterday’s email was a bit off kilter.
For example, who owned a particular Rolex Daytona has nothing to do with who created that same Rolex Daytona.
Then again...
The concept of ownership in the realm of content feels intrinsically intertwined with the concept of creation, perhaps because of copyright.
In other words, whoever created the content is the owner of the content.
(And I suppose, technically, a copyright can be transferred from person to person, so in that sense, “provenance” might be an appropriate term, but that’s not how I meant it in yesterday’s email.)
I think there is probably a more accurate term for what I mean, and it might be one of the following:
- Attribution - i.e., the process of assigning something to a particular cause or source
- Citation - i.e., a way of acknowledging the source of information used in your work, providing readers with details to find the original source
- Credits - i.e., the list of individuals, companies, and organizations that contributed to the making of a film
- Colophon - i.e., a brief inscription placed at the end of a book or manuscript, traditionally providing information about the book’s production details
I dunno yet, but I’m going to keep at it because I suspect it’s going to be pretty important to come up with norms and expectations around this.
Stay tuned!
Yours,
—J