Is my critique of a book fair use, or a violation of copyright?

[leosmith]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington
(I apologize if this is a duplicate post, but it didn't show up the first time I posted)

I have written a long critique of a new book, and have been posting it chapter by chapter on my website. The book was published this year, and it's a book about learning foreign languages. Although few if any of the isolated ideas are original, the way he combines them to create his "method" is unique.

The book is about 250 pages. My critique is about 15 pages long, with about 5 pages of quoting or close-paraphrasing. At one point I summarize the "heart" of his method into one short paragraph, about 50 words.

Getting the author's permission is out of the question. The review is 5% information, 5% positive comments and 90% negative comments. He will not like the review.

Question: Does this sound like fair use?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington
(I apologize if this is a duplicate post, but it didn't show up the first time I posted)

I have written a long critique of a new book, and have been posting it chapter by chapter on my website. The book was published this year, and it's a book about learning foreign languages. Although few if any of the isolated ideas are original, the way he combines them to create his "method" is unique.

The book is about 250 pages. My critique is about 15 pages long, with about 5 pages of quoting or close-paraphrasing. At one point I summarize the "heart" of his method into one short paragraph, about 50 words.

Getting the author's permission is out of the question. The review is 5% information, 5% positive comments and 90% negative comments. He will not like the review.

Question: Does this sound like fair use?

leosmith, you can keep all of your questions in one thread instead of starting several threads.

If you are reviewing a book, you can quote small portions and paraphrase parts of the book and this could be judged a fair use of the material. However, fair use is NOT permission to use another's copyrighted work. It is an affirmative defense to an infringement suit, if the copyright holder objects to your unauthorized use of his/her material and decides to sue.

If you are sued, a court will look at several factors to determine if your use is a fair one or not. The negative/positive aspect of a review will not come into play in the court's analysis (unless the copyright holder is also claiming defamation).

It is generally not a fair use to take the "heart" of a work and publish it. This can be looked at as infringement and harmful to the market value of, especially, a new book. And a "small" portion is subjective - what you may consider a small amount of borrowed material, the copyright holder and a court could see as infringement.

You would be smart to have your work personally reviewed by a publishing law professional prior to publication, if you do not intend to get permission in advance from the author (and getting permission is the best way to avoid a lawsuit).