Copyright Laws

[steves]

I have a website that publishes historical information and veterran's stories. I do not sell anything, the site is educational type. I would like to copy historical information statistics, data etc from other websites to mine. If I acknowledge the source is it legal to copy text?

I appreciate any advise you can give me.

Steve

[Jeff Colburn]

Hi,

Copyright issues get pretty sticky. Your best bet is to check out the copyright office at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/

Here's a piece of information from my book "The Writer's Answer And Resource Book For New And Experienced Writers" that can be found at http://www.creativecauldron.com/mybooks.shtml

"Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances."

You probably are fine if you take only a little info and credit the site, but to be extra safe contact the site and get their permission. They will probably love the free promotion your link will provide.

Have Fun,
Jeff

[debase23]

The text, data, and images your site will refer to was created. By that simple definition, it is covered by copyright laws.

I suggest that you contact the sites first, tell them what you do, that you're not doing it for profit, and what you want off their site in order to get permission. Then, refer to their sites by hotlinks and/or footnotes if you get a positive reply. Do the same for no reply, and for negative replies, make a vague reference and a "see such and such for more info."

All these footnotes and links will show your visitors that you're not just making stuff up. Your web site is just like a magazine article or a term paper. Anyone referring to the information on your site is also obligated to mention their source. Even if you were writing a work of fiction, it's a courtesy that teeters on legal requirement.

If you are copying images, the crude translation of the law is that you are excluded from copyright if you modify that image significantly enough that it can not be mistaken for the original. Changing the colors and rotating the image doesn't cut it. If you want to use an image, get an OK from the creator or owner and place a courtesy link or note on your site.

These footnotes and links have a sweet little bonus for you - better search engine exposure.

[jawn_tech]

According to the US copyright faq page...

How much of someone else's work can I use without getting permission?
Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. See FL 102, Fair Use, and Circular 21, Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians.

http://www.copyright.gov/faq.html

[rudyhiebert]

I have a website that publishes historical information and veterran's stories. I do not sell anything, the site is educational type. I would like to copy historical information statistics, data etc from other websites to mine. If I acknowledge the source is it legal to copy text?
I appreciate any advise you can give me.
Steve

It was said on techtv.com, "borrow & learn", is OK. My opinion: if you state your source and you're not making a profit from what you use, and make contact with the owner of the work to request permission, you can't loose. A magazine editor asked me for permission and I was in cloud-9.

[Lonna]

Dear Steves,

I checked out your website. It looks great. Since you are primarily using United States history, I would think you are in a safe zone since much of what was written from the past becomes public domain after the author dies, uhless the author's family takes over or sells the rights (which is more a 20th Century phenomenon--I'm sure Shakespeare gets quoted all the time!).

If you use a living author's writing, just contact that person for permission, quote it, and give the author credit. Authors always appreciate seeing their writing shared on the web and also appreciate the credit (writing is hard work!). Photographs may be harder to obtain permission for, but you can try (often a photographer will sell the photos at a reasonable price).

I'm a writer & photographer (not a Vet). Feel free to check out my website and quote whatever you like--just give me credit. If you like a photo, we'll talk :)

[Creatix]

The first thing I would like to point out is that (ignoring the fact Steves site is predominatntly using US content) the laws of the United States end at the coastline. Those of us that live in Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, UK, China, etc etc, couldn't care less about how leniant your laws may or may not be. If you copy work from an overseas site, you need to be aware that the site is operated in their jurisdiction, not yours. If you were to copy text from my site without so much as E-mailing, I would have to ask why? What are you hiding? Are you ashamed?
It takes 1 minute to write an E-mail asking for copyright permission. I have written hundreds, and have had a 100% success rate. A result of this is also that I have links to my sites coming from every provider. What a bonus!

I think it is great that you want to collate information in one place, I just think you need to be wary that someone has made a real effort to get that text available in the first place. Regardless of whether you will make a profit or not they deserve to have an opportunity to know if you are using, appreciating, and recycling their work.

It is common courtesy.

[Curious George]

Asking for permission is the best way to go. Whatever response you get from the content owner would be much better than dealing with the headache of not asking.

Good luck!

Curious George

[RLGinSoFla]

Ditto the recommendation of Curious George. Simply asking for... and being granted... permission to use the content is obviously the safest way. However, if you are going to use content for which you do not specifically have authorization of the copyright holder, the area of copyright law that you are concerned with in this case is Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. You can see the specifics here:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

It is also highly advisable that you clearly post a "Fair Use Notice" somewhere on your website indicating the use of copyrighted material for just such purposes as referenced Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.

BTW - If you really want to dig deep for more info and discussion on this particular topic, just Google "FAIR USE". You'll be busy for days! hehe

[jawn_tech]

ignoring the fact Steves site is predominatntly using US content

Yes that was accomplished well. Thank you.

There are also international copyright laws that become harder to enforce, but should never be overlooked. But back to the topic, in this case the poster's question can best be answered by referencing US copyright laws, which can best be referenced in above mentioned links.