The nature of memes make them meant to be free.

This is a pre-internet era meme:

No one knows who started the trend, but even if we did, if people didn't copy and repeat it, sharing on bathroom stalls and notebooks instead of Twitter and Facebook, then it would have just gone away. The (almost subconscious) urge to share and copy it is what made it the meme it is.

If a meme author is insisting on credit, then it was probably a forced meme, to which my ancient tribe would say: SAGE