How many words considered infringement?

Dmca

[janemc]

I get a lot of text copied from my web site and published on others. Sometimes the infringers take a paragraph here and there, and mix it with other content (theirs or sometimes stolen from elsewhere, then publish both on a page on their site.
Does anyone know how many words need to be "stolen" in order to consider it a copyright violation?
I apologise if this question as already been asked; I'm relatively new, and did not find it in the other threads.

[cellularnews]

Do they credit you as the original source - if not, then it is copyright violation, end of story.

Fair use permits some copying of content - but only if the source is credited in some way.

There is no explicit definition of what quantity consitutes fair use - but if they are passing off your content as their own, then that is an evident violation and should be stopped.

[janemc]

thanks,no they do not credit us in any way.
In fact I found a page today totally composed of word for word text from our site and 2 others!

[BigDave]

Does anyone know how many words need to be "stolen" in order to consider it a copyright violation?

There is no set number of words. Every case of fair use must be considered on its own merits. A professor qouting something for their class has a lot more rights than a direct competitor.

You need to consult with an attorney to find out if it is worh going after them.

Do they credit you as the original source - if not, then it is copyright violation, end of story.

Wrong. It can make a difference, but it is not "end of story".

[janemc]

Thanks for the nuances. I guess one of the frustrations is having to pay a lawyer just to protect something that belongs to you in the first place!
I plan to follow the advice given elsewhere in this forum and - as BigDave suggests - working on a case by case basis, decide whether to contact the web site owner, then the ISP then the search engines, or to escalate immediately.
I tried the soft approach yesterday on a couple of minor violations and they removed the infringed content in 24 hours. For the hard core cases, of which I have 2 on-going, we'll see!
Thanks everyone for the help.