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code321

Member
What is the name of your state? CO

is this true?

can i take quotes from people or other sites and use it and link and credit them, and all that fun stuff? i was told by a professor you are, as long as you credit them, and dont go quote crazy (stay limited).

i was told i could because my site is a news site. And an example he used if it was for a book that i was gonna sell, i was gonna have to have complete permission from the person who said it.
 


quincy

quincy

Senior Member
Crediting quotes, or other copied copyrighted material, can still be infringement under U.S. law. Proper attribution of the material copied does not change an infringing use into a fair use.

Also, it does not matter, always, how much materal you copy, as small amounts of copyrighted material copied can be infringement if you copy a vital part of the material.

Even if your site is a news site, you are still governed by copyright laws. For instance, you may take material, the facts, from an AP release, but you cannot copy the release verbatim without violating copyright law. You cannot quote a paragraph of a news article, even with attribution, without permission from the writer or the news organization who owns the work. You cannot use quotes gathered by, say, a reporter interviewing a witness, without verifying that the quote is accurate, and then obtaining permission from the witness to use it.

You cannot link without permission.

Ideas and facts, however, are never protected by copyright and can be used freely. What is protected is the manner of expression - such as a writer's analysis of the facts or event, the way the writer has structured the material to present these facts, which facts were used and how, and the choice of words used to present these facts.

You could get into trouble using the copyrighted work of others if you do not alter it and make it original. Merely copying someone else's presentations and putting quotes around it will get you in trouble. I cannot, in other words, quote portions of Mitch Albom's story in my own story without violating his rights and the rights of the Detroit Free Press by doing so.

In other words, even when your use of the material is "newsworthy" it will not protect you from an infringement suit.

It is best to seek permission from the owner of any copyrighted material.
 
C

code321

Member
well what im talkin about is a sentence long(event tho you said, dont matter how long), im not copying anyones presentations. i Just need what one dude says. Asking permission is not going to be possible in my situation at the moment so have any ideas?

if i was gonna ask permission i would have to ask 1k + of people im a sports writer. i would have to ask 500 boxers and 500 mma fighters if i can quote what they said after a fight lol
 
quincy

quincy

Senior Member
If you are getting direct quotes from these boxers and fighters, there is no problem quoting them as long as you are quoting them accurately. Quotations should never be altered and full quotes are better than partial quotes. The context in which something is said can be important. A sports writer will generally have not only a recorder but also take notes, so all quotes used in a story will be exact and described in the context in which they were said. If a sports writer does not speak with a person, he does not quote him.

If a boxer is being interviewed by another sports writer, and you were not part of the interview and did not personally hear the interview, and you want to use this sports writer's quotes of what the boxer said in your own story, you better be darn sure the quotes are accurate - because if the other sports writer gets it wrong, you will be held liable for the inaccuracy as well. Also, if the boxer was quoted and he was speaking sarcastically, or joking around, if you were not there personally to hear him speak, your quote on its own can inaccurately reflect the meaning of his words.

It is a risk to use the copyrighted works of others, whether it be ten sentences or one sentence. Most writers work hard at getting the material gathered for their stories - including speaking with the individuals involved in the story to get direct quotes. Putting together stories of your own based strictly on the work done by others can be legally dangerous.

Will you get sued for infringement for using quotes taken from others' works? I don't know. It's a crap shoot. But I recommend getting permission prior to using anyone else's material.
 
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code321

Member
ok thanks man. Now can you use their facts to write a complete article of your own like what we did at school? You know like history essays and stuff, obviously the facts were took from somewhere.

the think is with MMA i know like 50 other sites lol and people are just taking quotes and facts off of everywhere lol. I dont know if all 50 have permission from each other lol but i mean their using each others interviews each others facts. thats why i ask all these questions cause with me trying to keep with the law here is cause me to fall behind.

my sites been going for almost half a year but this past month iv been tryin to follow laws cause im getting people in the 1k's a week and its a matter of time one of em is a lawyer etc. lol so iv brought my site to a min and its pretty much just sitting there lol. its sad :( lol, thanks for your help hope you cant continue to help. thanks.
 
quincy

quincy

Senior Member
You can use any facts you find and you can even use the ideas of others to write your stories. You just cannot copy their work or how they expressed the facts and ideas. You must be creative and original in how you present your material.

If other sites are quoting like mad and taking copyrighted work to use on their site, they either have obtained permission to use the material, or they are using the material for fair comment and criticism (opinion and reviews), or they are presenting their work as educational or research work, or they are hoping that the amounts they are using would fall under copyright law's "fair use" provision, or they are asking for a cease-and-desist letter and an infringement suit. ;)

Writing a sports story is sort of like writing a history paper in school, except with research papers and educational works you are given a lot more "fair use" freedoms when writing, and you can "borrow" more freely from copyrighted works. With educational and research papers, you do attribute your sources of the material (the dreaded bibliographies that you had to attach to each paper :)), but attributing the source of material will not help you avoid an infringement suit with other writings - although to NOT attribute the source, and to claim the material is your own, is worse.

I would read a few sports articles in the newspapers to see how they are written - all sports stories work with the same facts and you can get an idea of how each writer expresses the facts to make the story his own.

At any rate, you are wise to be concerned about the laws when writing. Nothing puts an end to a writing career quite as rapidly as charges of plagiarism or copyright infringment will.
 
C

code321

Member
lol thanks man so im pretty sure i got it, thanks for your help, really helped me out :) and i like the way you said some stuff there lol like about the dreaded bibliography or whatever and quoting like mad lol. nice lol thanks man
 
quincy

quincy

Senior Member
If this is another "free quote", I have to tell you, SJ, that I am still trying to work your first one into a post somehow. :)

But, if you are truly looking for a response to this puzzler, I say that the reason Kuwait pays 19 cents a gallon and we pay close to $4.00 a gallon is that that is the way of the Universe - and if you were not an intelligent being, you would not be able to consider this question at all. ;)
 
S

seniorjudge

Senior Member
quincy said:
If this is another "free quote", I have to tell you, SJ, that I am still trying to work your first one into a post somehow. :)

But, if you are truly looking for a response to this puzzler, I say that the reason Kuwait pays 19 cents a gallon and we pay close to $4.00 a gallon is that that is the way of the Universe - and if you were not an intelligent being, you would not be able to consider this question at all. ;)
Click to expand...

...good answer...
 
C

code321

Member
quincy said:
or they are using the material for fair comment and criticism (opinion and reviews)
Click to expand...

so i was looking over this again, what do you mean by "fair comment and criticism (opinion and reviews)?"

also once you tell me the answer to that question and i understand, under those circumstances can i go quote crazy? lol, thanks again.
 
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