[pjchappy]

What I posted above holds true from my recollection. . .

People state stuff like that just to state stuff like that. . .the info is copyrighted regardless.  What the person did w/ Cryotweaks stuff was to take HIS ENTIRE review and pass it off AS HIS OWN. . .a big no-no.  On the opposite side of the spectrum, it's like when the back of a dumptruck says "not responsible for any damage as a result of flying debrees," etc. . . well, if they were negligent, they are responsible.   They can't just make a statement like that and get away w/ murder. . .

Cryo used an excerpt in his post, which was clearly noted as from 6moons.com.  He was not passing it off as his own.  He did not reproduce the entire work.

It's been about 2 years since I studied Intellectual Property law. . .and it does get more detailed, etc. (of course, it's law   ). . .anyways, that is a generic summary. . .

(gratuitous legal disclaimer):  The above information should not be used, or taken in any way, as legal advice.  Noone should rely on the information above in making any decision. . .  

p

[azryan]

"-What the person did w/ Cryotweaks stuff was to take HIS ENTIRE review and pass it off AS HIS OWN. . .a big no-no.-"

So could he have posted part of it then? I couldn't imagine how someone could legally define 'how much' of something someone can take from someone else?

"-Cryo used an excerpt in his post, which was clearly noted as from 6moons.com. He was not passing it off as his own. He did not reproduce the entire work.-"

Right. And I got it that you're saying that that's legal for him to do that.

Now is it too difficult to talk about if it was 'right' of him to do that when 6moons seemed to be saying they don't want people to do that?

My original question was just asking if he had asked for permission like 6moons disclaimer asks people to do.

No attack or anything. I mean the answer could have been 'Yes, I asked 'em and they said "Hey no prob. Go for it!" -right?

"-It's been about 2 years since I studied Intellectual Property law-"

See I have ZERO study of this subject and I'd like to know what I can post of other people's stuff and can't so I was only going by having seen disclaimers like on 6moons on all kinds of stuff like magazines, etc...

Can I copy a S'Phile review here? I'm guessing no, but if no... can I copy part of one?

If yes... could I copy all of the review 'cept leave out one line so it's not technically 'all'?

I've never heard what the rules are for all this and I'm sure there's gotta be other people who'd like to know this too since so often we post about what someone else said or what this or that mag said, etc...

p.s. -see, I'm not evil. heh

[wshuff]

I wish I knew the concise legal answer, but since I never had this class in law school and have never practiced in this particular area, sorry.

But, here's another discussion where the topic came up.  Look for the posts by John Kotches and Canjunlab on page 2.  And just FIY, when the topic was first posted Canjunlab had included the entire article, but the moderators took it down.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=314892&perpage=20&pagenumber=2

[pjchappy]

If I have a bit of time. . . I will whip out my IP book and check it out. . .

BUT, I am pretty sure taking excerpts is fine, as long as the source is credited and you're not trying to pass it off as your own, etc. . .

I am basing this off of not only what I learned from the IP class, but just from writing essays, etc. . .if such things weren't allowed, I couldn't have been able to write those essays, etc., especially in law school. . .

p

[pjchappy]

OK, here is the most likely applicable section of the law. . .
it is a defense to copyright infringement, called the Fair Use doctrine:

17 USC Sec. 107
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -
(1)
the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2)
the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3)
the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4)
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.


Considering these factors, the defense would likely hold up.  All of the factors above would be taken into consideration. . .a balancing test.  The policy behind this law is to promote free speech by allowing discussion, etc. of copy-protected material.

Remember, I am just discussing the law.  None of what I have said is to be taken as legal advice.

p

[JohnR]

The guidelines where I teach are that we are allowed to copy and distribute up to one chapter or 10% of a book, whichever is greater, without obtaining permission from the copyright holder.

When quoting material from other sources (eg for research etc) the general guideline is that such excerpts are acknowledged. If you copy material or substantially base your material on someone else's material and claim it to be your own, that is plagiarism.

As far as online material goes, I think a useful general guideline is a) to not copy more than a portion of the material and b) to acknowledge the source (with a link to the original page). Whether or not a page has a notice saying that it's copyrighted makes no difference, by default the copyright is owned by whoever wrote it. Similarly with fair use, I don't think you can put up a webpage and prohibit people from quoting it within the guidelines for fair use.

(I don't have any opinion on the particular examples being discussed here as I haven't read them. I'm just following on from pjchappy's post about fair use.)