Forum Moderators: not2easy
What are the legal rights surrounding rewritten content? Where's the line?
If I took similar stories from AP, Reuters, etc. - rewrote the content and republished - how is that viewed from a content and rights perspective?
Some attribution is allowed depending on how the articles are written and facts can never be copyrighted. There is some fair use but this is an EXTREMELY complicated area of law.
Again.. the book "Law of the web: Field Guide to Internet Publishing" is a good tool.
Fact is that all news agencies refer and attribute to each other and even steal from each other all the time. It's not illegal.. it's just the way it is. news is news and agencies like AP and Reuters don't have a monopoly on reporting the news, no matter how hard they try!
Services like adfero and Bang Showbiz do nothing but rewrite I believe.
Others like AHN do a combination. They have some writers that do rewrites and some reporters and correspondents that do original items. Not too long ago they were an aggregator like Google News. It's been interesting watching them grow.
Again there are no specific rules however there are plenty of pitfalls.. Not only copyrights but also Slander and Libel laws and a myriad of other issues can bite you in the ass. News agencies spend more on legal and attorneys than almost any other business.
I mentioned "Law of the web: Field Guide to Internet Publishing" earlier.. you should really get it and establish a retainer relationship with a good media lawyer if you start. The money you spend on them will be well spent.
