Week 1: Muddy

Muddy Waters in Copyright and Fair Use

The article on copyright and fair use by Stanford University Libraries has conjured up some very muddy waters that I am trying to tread through very carefully. I am not what you would call tech savvy in the least, so trying to wade through what is and is not appropriate to use on the internet is extremely confusing. Obviously with all of the lawsuits and such, I want to steer clear of any and all possible copyright infringements. The easiest way that I can accomplish this is to use my own designs and wording for anything I post.

Works published, whether in a book or on-line, remain the works of the author and that person deserves the credit. I understand the process of quoting a source on paper; however I do not understand the proper way to accomplish this task on-line. Adding to that, what is the proper way to attach pictures or designs, which are someone else’s to your posts?

I decided to look deeper at http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html , Copyright, to have a better understanding. “Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. See FL 102, Fair Use, and Circular 21, Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians.” This helped with the text part of the copyright issue as to what or how much I am able to “borrow”, however it did not explain issues dealing with designs.

About.com posted an article “Copyright on the Web”. It states simply”Copyright on the web seems to be a difficult concept for some people to understand. However, it's really simple: If you did not write or create the article, graphic, or data that you found, then you need permission from the owner before you can copy it. Remember, when you use someone's graphic, HTML, or text without permission, you are stealing, and they can take action against you.” Enough said! If I didn’t design it or write it, I can’t use it without asking!

 

http://webdesign.about.com/od/copyright/a/aa081700a.htm
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html