Deprecate __author__, __credits__ and __copyright__ attributes in stdlib modules #159240

Feature or enhancement

A handful of stdlib modules still set __author__, __credits__ or __copyright__. These are leftovers from when the modules were first added. They are outdated, suggest a single owner for code that has since had many contributors, and nothing reads them programmatically.

Following the __version__ deprecation in #76007, I propose to deprecate them via a module __getattr__ for removal in 3.20 (so they can be removed along with __version__), and to move the attribution into source comments so the historical credit is kept (without implying ownership).

Additionally, Ka-Ping Yee has confirmed that the email addresses listed for him are defunct, and should not be listed.

Has this already been discussed elsewhere?

I have already discussed this feature proposal on Discourse

Links to previous discussion of this feature:

https://discuss.python.org/t/remove-author-credits-and-copyright-from-stdlib-modules/109199/

Linked PRs

• gh-159240: Deprecate __{author,credits,copyright}__ attributes in stdlib modules #159241