Internet Copy

[feelmywrath]

Internet Copyright Laws

What is the name of your state? Washington DC

I find Internet law to be a very murky area of the law, consequently I need clarification on something.

I'm an avid sports fan and subscribe to numerous premium services that provide "Insider" information regarding my favorite team(s). Some of the content is exclusive news, while most of it is widely reported on and off-line.

As a sports fan, I occasionally visit message boards, to interact with other fans. From time to time, if I come across interesting information on a premium website, I post that information on a message board not affilated with that website. My intentions are to share my opionion regarding the subject matter in that particular article, and solicit feedback from other fans. Is it against the law to post those premium articles?

Instead of posting excerpts of the premium article, I suppose it would be safer to just summarize what I read in my on words. However, IMO, the information is more credible when the article is posted, because it's posted as it was originally published by the original author. In other words, if a fan started a thread and said that so and so said Jerry Rice isn't really the best receiver to ever play the game, I would want to see the article from the source, rather than some watered down summary. Please advise on this matter.

Thanks!

 

[hexeliebe]

Is it against the law to post those premium articles?

Since you did not distinguish between excerpts and the entire article here then I have to answer based on the entire article and that does not fall within the fair use doctrine.

Instead of posting excerpts of the premium article, I suppose it would be safer to just summarize what I read in my on words.

Yes, it would be, but you could also tell people where to read the article if they question it's validity.

 

[feelmywrath]

Fair Use Doctrine

Are you saying that it's o.k. to post excerpts, but not the entire article?

Anyway, I thought it was O.K. to post the entire article, as long as I cited the source and didn't pass along the information as if it were my own. IMO, it would be no different than buying a magazine, reading it, then giving the magazine to someone else after I was done.

Isn't there a clause in the fair use doctrine or copyright laws that pertains to personal copies?

 

[divgradcurl]

Anyway, I thought it was O.K. to post the entire article, as long as I cited the source and didn't pass along the information as if it were my own.

That will keep you from getting accused of plagarism, but won't protect you from copyright infringement! In order to repost a copyrighted article in its entirety, you need to have permission from the copyright owner.

IMO, it would be no different than buying a magazine, reading it, then giving the magazine to someone else after I was done

It is legal to give away or resell the magazine after you are done with it -- those are "first sale" rights -- once you are sold an item, the copyright holder can't stop you from doing what you want with that individual copy.

However, even if you purchase the magazine, you can't go off and xerox a hundred copies of the articles and pass them out for free -- that would be a violation of copyright. That's a closer analogy to what you intend to do than the "giving away a magazine after I'm done reading it" analogy. By posting the article, you are making a copy of the article, and that's a violation of copyright unless you have permission to do it.

Isn't there a clause in the fair use doctrine or copyright laws that pertains to personal copies?

There is a fair use doctrine in copyright, 17 U.S.C. 107 -- however, what you are considering would not be likely to be found to be a fair use. Yes, you are allowed to make personal copies, but you are not, in general, allowed to give those copies away -- that's violates a copyright owner's right to control distribution of the copyrighted work.

All that aside, facts are not copyrightable, even if they are "exclusive" -- so it is perfectly legitimate for you to go to the premium sites, gather the facts, and then report them yourself, in your own words. I know you would rather have the "authority" of the original, but you just can't do that without permission. Also, be careful, because although "facts" can't be copyrighted, opinions and interpretations can be...

 

[CaliCat]

If you have questions, don't do it.

Don't take this as advice, but I do that. Only with comics regarding a movie genre. If I get contacted, I will take them down.