Using data from studies and findings from another author in my own book

[TalkinLaw]

If the company Morningstar does a study comparing 3, 5 and 10 year performance of mutual funds versus stock indexes and I want to list some of their findings, can I do that and do I need to credit Morningstar?

Or if another author writes in his own book about a personal story that he was 0 for 30 investing in micro cap companies with no revenue or track record but the companies had a great "story" can I describe what he learned and do I need to credit this author? Of course I wouldn't be quoting word for word, just repeating his findings.

 

[ecmst12]

If you don't understand the concept of using citations to credit your sources of information, I suspect you really have no business writing a book in the first place. Take a writing class first.

 

[quincy]

In your first post to this forum, TalkinLaw, you mentioned that you were interested in research and you "always thought it would be nice to do your own legwork."

So, how's that working out for you?

Facts cannot be copyrighted, so you can use data that has been compiled by another researcher, as long as you take only the facts and do not copy the way these facts are expressed (for example, you cannot use the same graphs, the same tables, the same words). If the data is unique to one source only, however, you should credit the source of this unique data.

Personal stories are not facts and you will need permission from the author before using this material, paraphrased or not.

Words of advice:

When you are using "facts" published by others, you should verify that the facts are actually factual by doing your own research. It is the sloppy writer who merely takes from other sources, parroting what has been previously written, and then claiming the material as his own.

In other words, if you must rely solely on the work done by others, you do not have enough knowledge of your own to share and you should probably not be writing a book on the subject.

You need to do your OWN research, which requires work - which should be fun for you since you apparently are interested in the "leg work" aspect of research, anyway.

 

[TalkinLaw]

If you don't understand the concept of using citations to credit your sources of information, I suspect you really have no business writing a book in the first place. Take a writing class first.

Stick to law. Your comedy is lacking.

quincy

In your first post to this forum, TalkinLaw, you mentioned that you were interested in research and you "always thought it would be nice to do your own legwork."

So, how's that working out for you?

Facts cannot be copyrighted, so you can use data that has been compiled by another researcher, as long as you take only the facts and do not copy the way these facts are expressed (for example, you cannot use the same graphs, the same tables, the same words). If the data is unique to one source only, however, you should credit the source of this unique data.

Personal stories are not facts and you will need permission from the author before using this material, paraphrased or not.

Words of advice:

When you are using "facts" published by others, you should verify that the facts are actually factual by doing your own research. It is the sloppy writer who merely takes from other sources, parroting what has been previously written, and then claiming the material as his own.

In other words, if you must rely solely on the work done by others, you do not have enough knowledge of your own to share and you should probably not be writing a book on the subject.

You need to do your OWN research, which requires work - which should be fun for you since you apparently are interested in the "leg work" aspect of research, anyway.

Solely? I have plenty of my own "leg work" to cover. It's impossible to write a book of this sort without referencing some past market statistics and studies. Doing my own calculations as Morningstar did would be a monstrous undertaking.

One more question: Is there a way of circumventing getting permission if I can find a newspaper or magazine article that references this other author's personal story about microcaps? I have yet to search, but it's very possible that this author mentioned his experience in an interview.

 

[quincy]

Is there a way of circumventing getting permission if I can find a newspaper or magazine article that references this other author's personal story about microcaps? I have yet to search, but it's very possible that this author mentioned his experience in an interview.

There is probably no way of circumventing getting permission.

Newspaper and magazine articles are copyrighted too, so, even if the personal story was quoted in an article, you would still need to get permission from these publishers to use what they published.

Other than facts (and ideas), which cannot be copyrighted, you should get permission to use another's material in your book. You can pull from a story or an article the facts, and you can use these facts as long as you do not present them in the same way. It will be the way the facts are expressed - in an article, a book, a research study, a journal - that is copyright-protectable.

So, if you wish to use the author's personal story in your book, I recommend that you contact the author for permission to use the author's story in your book.

(all of the above, by the way, is assuming that what you want to use for your book is not in the public domain)

As to the Morningstar data and any other facts, statistics and data that you will be gathering from other sources, if you cannot verify the data and the facts and the statistics yourself (and I understand that this is often difficult or impossibe to do), you should credit these "unverified" facts and data and statistics to their sources. One reason to do this is that any errors (for example, in calculations) will then fall to your sources and not on you.

These are all very general writing guidelines, TalkinLaw, and a forum setting does not allow for much more than this. If you have concerns about what you can and cannot use in your book, it might be wise for you to sit down and go over your book outline and your chapter plans with a publishing law professional.

It is always wise to have a manuscript reviewed by a professional prior to publication. Getting advice while you are still working on completing your manuscript can be wise, as well.

Good luck.

 

[TalkinLaw]

These are all very general writing guidelines, TalkinLaw, and a forum setting does not allow for much more than this. If you have concerns about what you can and cannot use in your book, it might be wise for you to sit down and go over your book outline and your chapter plans with a publishing law professional.

It is always wise to have a manuscript reviewed by a professional prior to publication. Getting advice while you are still working on completing your manuscript can be wise, as well.

Good luck.

Yeah I am definitely doing to have a lawyer review it at some point. Thanks.

 

[quincy]

You're welcome, TalkinLaw. I wish you good luck with your book.

 

[TalkinLaw]

Facts cannot be copyrighted, so you can use data that has been compiled by another researcher, as long as you take only the facts and do not copy the way these facts are expressed (for example, you cannot use the same graphs, the same tables, the same words). If the data is unique to one source only, however, you should credit the source of this unique data.

If I wanted to use someone's content I guess another option is to ask for permission or perhaps they might want a small royalty.

Another question. Does it matter if someone creates a UNIQUE model but again just using factual market data? Is it OK to cite these numbers? For example there is a researcher who studied market statistics going back 44 years and found that the average index annuity would have underperformed a conservative portfolio of 85% one-month T-bills, and 15% large-cap stocks by nearly two percent per year, on average.

 

[ecmst12]

It wasn't comedy. Are you not familiar with the concept of footnotes/parenthetical citations and bibliography?

 

[quincy]

Acquiring permisson from a copyright holder to use portions of his/her copyrighted material is always best and is certainly the legally safest way to use another's work. It is just not generally necessary when it comes to using facts. Facts cannot be copyrighted. You can use them. You just need to learn when you must credit the source of the facts that you use.

What you may wish to do, TalkinLaw, is pick up a couple of best-selling books, ones that may be similar in some ways to the one you are working on. You can make note of how an author introduces, presents and handles the copyrighted works of others. Books published by major publishing houses will have been checked and edited to eliminate* the risky areas.

Some book suggestions: "blink" or "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell, "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, "Stiff" by Mary Roach, "Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)" by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson. All of these make extensive use of research studies and take advantage of research done by others, use quotes from presentations, and use portions of material published by other authors. In addition to getting permission to use material in some cases, these authors also credit all sources (both in the text of their books and also in separate acknowledgements) and have bibliographies and/or end notes (as ecmst12 has mentioned).

Some publishing houses do request or require that their authors have signed releases from anyone who will be quoted in a book. It will depend on the publisher and the book. In fact, pretty much everything in law depends on the specifics. It is also wise to have insurance to cover the costs of any lawsuits should they arise.

I recommend again that you have your manuscript reviewed by a publishing law professional. Good luck.


*As a note: One of the books mentioned above spawned a lawsuit despite editing, but the crediting of the sources is what you will want to look at in these books (or others) as that is what you will want to mimic in your book.

 

[TalkinLaw]

Any thoughts on this article?
http://www.wiley.com/legacy/authors/guidelines/stmguides/3content.htm

Under "Facts, Information and Ideas" it says that you may use facts and information you obtain from another work. How would the "0 - 25" with stocks that have a great story and no revenue be different?

 

[quincy]

Facts can be used. Whether you need to attribute the source of these facts will depend on the facts that are used.

And ideas are not copyrightable (under most circumstances). You can take an idea and run with it.

Whether you can use information you find will depend on what form this information takes. You can generally pull facts from information and use it but, again, you may need to attribute the source of the facts. Information expressed in, say, a graph form may not be available to use in that form without permission from the author. A graph is an expression of facts and would, therefore, be copyrightable. You could take the facts expressed in the graph, however, and use them. But you may need to attribute the source of these facts.

You should consult with an attorney in your area, TalkInLaw, and go over your manuscript with this attorney or a writing professional. ecmst's suggestion in Post #2 is not a bad idea. You may wish to consider it.

Good luck with your book.


Edit to add: You asked about the "wiley.com" site. Although the site appears to have been created several years ago and the copyright law has had some significant changes that are not reflected in the information provided, the writer guidelines seem to be sound (from my cursory review). Wiley does make it the author's responsibility to acquire written releases from all those whose copyrighted works will be quoted in the author's book.

 

[Silverplum]

Any thoughts on this article?
http://www.wiley.com/legacy/authors/guidelines/stmguides/3content.htm

Under "Facts, Information and Ideas" it says that you may use facts and information you obtain from another work. How would the "0 - 25" with stocks that have a great story and no revenue be different?

Why do you have such a problem asking the author of the work for permission? He or she did the WORK. You just want to hitch along for the ride.