You've answered your own question, because that's exactly how the law is written. If you CAN be claimed as someone else's dependent, you cannot take education credits. It doesn't matter whether that other person did or didn't claim you.
The dependency rules are complicated, but the logic is that if you indeed qualify as someone else's dependent, chances are you lived with that person and he/she supported you. As such, it doesn't matter who wrote the check to the college: the person who provided the support is the one entitled to the education credit.
You've answered your own question, because that's exactly how the law is written. If you CAN be claimed as someone else's dependent, you cannot take education credits. It doesn't matter whether that other person did or didn't claim you.
The dependency rules are complicated, but the logic is that if you indeed qualify as someone else's dependent, chances are you lived with that person and he/she supported you. As such, it doesn't matter who wrote the check to the college: the person who provided the support is the one entitled to the education credit.