summaries for AP classes

[seventeen17]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
hi, i'm currently a junior and have started a website that is comprised of summaries/study guides for ap classes. the summaries are very concise, so they're not like the textbooks i use in school. nevertheless, i sometimes have to refer to prep books such as CliffNotes and Barron's. I'm certainly not quoting or using their exact phrasing, but my summaries do resemble the prep books. Even if the ideas are in my own words, would this still infringe on their copyrights?

 

[FlyingRon]

"Facts" aren't protected by copyright, only the expression of them. Make sure you are NOT lifting any of the creative expression, just paraphrasing it is NOT sufficient.

Why would I buy your regurgitated cliff notes when I could get the real ones?

 

[seventeen17]

"Facts" aren't protected by copyright, only the expression of them. Make sure you are NOT lifting any of the creative expression, just paraphrasing it is NOT sufficient.

Why would I buy your regurgitated cliff notes when I could get the real ones?

Sorry, but what is creative expression?

And they're free to access. I'm mainly doing it for kids at my school, but anyone can access them if they want to.


Thanks in advance!

 

[quincy]

In writing, creative expression includes the words that are used and how these words are arranged in a sentence and how the sentences are structured and how the sentences are placed into paragraphs and how the paragraphs are formed. . . . .

For example: You can write a story about "boy meets girl" because boy meets girl is an idea and ideas are not copyrightable, but you cannot copy Romeo and Juliet, because that is how Shakespeare expressed the idea of boy meets girl, and those words belong to him.*

In other words, you cannot (generally) take the words of another and pass them off as your own, without infringing on a copyright.

The more your summaries/study guides resemble the copyrighted works created by another, the more likely you are to attract a lawsuit (or, at the very least, a cease and desist letter and a demand for compensation).

The fact that you are offering these guides for free does not protect you from a legal action, should the copyright owners take exception to your use of their material.


*Shakespeare works are actually in the public domain but I don't want to confuse things here.

 

[seventeen17]

In writing, creative expression includes the words that are used and how these words are arranged in a sentence and how the sentences are structured and how the sentences are placed into paragraphs and how the paragraphs are formed. . . . .

For example: You can write a story about "boy meets girl" because boy meets girl is an idea and ideas are not copyrightable, but you cannot copy Romeo and Juliet, because that is how Shakespeare expressed the idea of boy meets girl, and those words belong to him.*

In other words, you cannot (generally) take the words of another and pass them off as your own, without infringing on a copyright.

The more your summaries/study guides resemble the copyrighted works created by another, the more likely you are to attract a lawsuit (or, at the very least, a cease and desist letter and a demand for compensation).

The fact that you are offering these guides for free does not protect you from a legal action, should the copyright owners take exception to your use of their material.


*Shakespeare works are actually in the public domain but I don't want to confuse things here.

Oh, I see
Could I give an example of the paraphrasing? (I'll delete it immediately after I receive an answer)

"The Fourteenth Amendment contains two key clauses that have had a significant impact on Supreme Court decision and U.S. politics:

• The Due Process Clause
• The Equal Protection Clause

"

My version of the information:
"The 14[SUP]th[/SUP] Amendment was used by the Supreme Court to apply the Bill of Rights to the states in a process called selective incorporation. The 14[SUP]th[/SUP] Amendment has two main clauses that were crucial to the process of selective incorporation:

• The Equal Protection Clause
• The Due Process Clause

"

 

[quincy]

Oh, I see
Could I give an example of the paraphrasing? (I'll delete it immediately after I receive an answer)

"The Fourteenth Amendment contains two key clauses that have had a significant impact on Supreme Court decision and U.S. politics:

• The Due Process Clause
• The Equal Protection Clause

"

My version of the information:
"The 14[SUP]th[/SUP] Amendment was used by the Supreme Court to apply the Bill of Rights to the states in a process called selective incorporation. The 14[SUP]th[/SUP] Amendment has two main clauses that were crucial to the process of selective incorporation:

• The Equal Protection Clause
• The Due Process Clause

"

I can tell you that the format you are using may raise some red flags (ie, the two bullet points and using the same words and just switching them around is not enough of a change). The rest - well, it sounds all right to me, but I will not make any definitive statement here, having not seen the materials you are using.

And, as a note, I personally would rearrange your second sentence and add a third to include all of that information. And I would eliminate the bullet points.

What I recommend you do is read the material you plan to use and then put it away. Then do your writing.

Write in your own style, in your own words and put the information in your own order. You can go back to the material to check to see if you have all of the facts right later.

You are safe using all of the facts you are using. You just need to add your own original and creative touches when you present these facts.

Good luck with your endeavor. I like the idea you came up with for your website.

 

[LdiJ]

Oh, I see
Could I give an example of the paraphrasing? (I'll delete it immediately after I receive an answer)

"The Fourteenth Amendment contains two key clauses that have had a significant impact on Supreme Court decision and U.S. politics:

• The Due Process Clause
• The Equal Protection Clause

"

My version of the information:
"The 14[SUP]th[/SUP] Amendment was used by the Supreme Court to apply the Bill of Rights to the states in a process called selective incorporation. The 14[SUP]th[/SUP] Amendment has two main clauses that were crucial to the process of selective incorporation:

• The Equal Protection Clause
• The Due Process Clause

"

In my opinion, those two versions are completely different in creative expression. However, they are the same in basic format, which may or may not cause someone to challenge you. The problem with a legal challenge is that its expensive, even if you are nearly guaranteed to win. If you are providing exactly the same information, in exactly the same order, in exactly the same basic format, you are more likely to be challenged than if you mix things up more by using a different format, and a different order/organization of information.

Here is a suggestion...pick a topic, any legal topic at all, and google it. Look at a dozen different versions of the information to get a feel for how people present the same information but in different ways. That should help you figure out how to present your information in a way that will not rise to a challenge.

 

[quincy]

In my opinion, those two versions are completely different in creative expression. However, they are the same in basic format, which may or may not cause someone to challenge you. The problem with a legal challenge is that its expensive, even if you are nearly guaranteed to win. If you are providing exactly the same information, in exactly the same order, in exactly the same basic format, you are more likely to be challenged than if you mix things up more by using a different format, and a different order/organization of information.

Here is a suggestion...pick a topic, any legal topic at all, and google it. Look at a dozen different versions of the information to get a feel for how people present the same information but in different ways. That should help you figure out how to present your information in a way that will not rise to a challenge.

What could be easier is comparing dictionary definitions. Dictionaries use the same words and the words all have the same definition (those are the facts) but each dictionary takes the definition of the word and expresses it in a different way. And to add even more creativity, dictionaries will often include additional facts or illustrations.

The key to copyrights are originality and creativity. Whatever is original and creative about a work will be rights-protected. Whatever is left when the originality and creativity is eliminated will not be.

 

[latigo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
hi, i'm currently a junior and have started a website that is comprised of summaries/study guides for ap classes. the summaries are very concise, so they're not like the textbooks i use in school. nevertheless, i sometimes have to refer to prep books such as CliffNotes and Barron's. I'm certainly not quoting or using their exact phrasing, but my summaries do resemble the prep books. Even if the ideas are in my own words, would this still infringe on their copyrights?

If you didn’t think you were plagiarizing another’s work product - which it is regardless of how you cleverly try to disguise it “with your own words” – words that must express the same creative thought and content or it wouldn’t be of value - you wouldn’t be asking would you?

And do you suppose that if some stranger says that it doesn’t infringe upon established property rights, then it doesn’t?

But I’ll tell you what you might do. Run your version of their summarries by CliffNotes and Barrons. If their attorneys pass on them . . . .

 

[quincy]

. . . .And do you suppose that if some stranger says that it doesn't infringe upon established property rights, then it doesn't?

But I'll tell you what you might do. Run your version of their summarries by CliffNotes and Barrons. If their attorneys pass on them . . . .

It depends on the stranger, latigo.

The attorneys for CliffNotes and Barrons will essentially be strangers to seventeen17, too, but asking them for permission to use their material is something that can be considered (although I am pretty sure permission to use their material for a study guide will be denied).

I think seventeen17 has a good and workable idea. All s/he needs to do is learn how to create her own style of study guide using the same facts she runs across in her studies. That should not be an impossible task for a student who is bright enough to take AP classes and design a website, and one who is bright enough to check on the legalities of the site.

 

[seventeen17]

Wow, thanks for the replies! So from what most of you guys are saying, the formatting and organizing (headings, chapters, titles, etc) will most likely be where I'll have the most trouble?
It seems that many different prep book companies have the same exact chapter names and in the same order for most of the subjects, which is why I didn't think I'd have to necessarily change them.

If you didn’t think you were plagiarizing another’s work product - which it is regardless of how you cleverly try to disguise it “with your own words” – words that must express the same creative thought and content or it wouldn’t be of value - you wouldn’t be asking would you?

And do you suppose that if some stranger says that it doesn’t infringe upon established property rights, then it doesn’t?

But I’ll tell you what you might do. Run your version of their summarries by CliffNotes and Barrons. If their attorneys pass on them . . . .

I don't understand how you can say that I'm plagiarizing. In fact, I believe plagiarism involves using actual pieces of someone's work - such as quotes - without citing its source. I'm not attempting to do anything like that.


And that's another question I'd like to ask: Would it be alright for me to use textbooks as a source and then cite them at the end of the study guides? For some reason, many prep books don't have any sources at the end of the book, which is very strange. I don't understand how someone writing a guide for something like ap physics b wouldn't need any sort of reference material... anyways, would that be alright for me to do? or would using a textbook as a source be a form of infringing on its copyright?

I guess i don't understand in general the whole "fair use" and "cannot make a derivative of a work" parts of federal copyrights laws, haha


Anyways, thanks again for all your guys' help.

 

[quincy]

Wow, thanks for the replies! So from what most of you guys are saying, the formatting and organizing (headings, chapters, titles, etc) will most likely be where I'll have the most trouble?

It seems that many different prep book companies have the same exact chapter names and in the same order for most of the subjects, which is why I didn't think I'd have to necessarily change them.

I don't understand how you can say that I'm plagiarizing. In fact, I believe plagiarism involves using actual pieces of someone's work - such as quotes - without citing its source. I'm not attempting to do anything like that.

And that's another question I'd like to ask: Would it be alright for me to use textbooks as a source and then cite them at the end of the study guides? For some reason, many prep books don't have any sources at the end of the book, which is very strange. I don't understand how someone writing a guide for something like ap physics b wouldn't need any sort of reference material... anyways, would that be alright for me to do? or would using a textbook as a source be a form of infringing on its copyright?

I guess i don't understand in general the whole "fair use" and "cannot make a derivative of a work" parts of federal copyrights laws, haha


Anyways, thanks again for all your guys' help.

You can generally use small portions of copyrighted material, quoted accurately and attributed correctly, for use in your own work. This is often considered a "fair use" of the material.

BUT, the problem with fair use in copyright law is that fair use is a defense to copyright infringement and not permission to use copyrighted material. How much material you can use safely without upsetting the copyright owner is not something you will really know in advance, unless you get permission from the copyright owner. The only other way to know if you used too much is if you are sued by the copyright owner and a court tells you that you used too much. You want to avoid this way of learning how much is too much.

And you cannot make a "derivative" of a copyrighted work without express permission from the copyright holder. Making derivatives is one of a copyright holder's exclusive rights.

You can use all the facts and ideas you want, though. But that is pretty much it. Facts will not need to be attributed, unless the facts are unique to one source only (and you probably won't run across those very often).

You can get some inspiration from another's work - that is, you can decide to create your own study guide after reading CliffsNotes - but you cannot make your own CliffsNotes. In fact, in creating your own study guide you should probably forget everything you know about CliffsNotes.

Compile your facts from several different sources and then assemble these facts in your own unique way. There are all sorts of ways to learn material and not all ways are in text book order or divided into CliffNote-type chapters.

Organize and write your guide in a way that makes it easy for you to understand the material, grouping your facts in your own creative way.

With all of that said, this forum really isn't a writer's workshop, but there are some of those online that can perhaps help guide you in creating your study guide. You might want to ask your classroom teachers for help with your website material, too.

Good luck, seventeen17.