When is it Copyright infringement?

Newb full of questions

[CycleMaster]

Hi there,
I am keen to make a website and have a few questions about copyright. I see a lot of sites that post news and articles from other sites and at the bottom they will ususally give credit in the form of a note at the bottom ( Note: Source:www.example.com ) or (Source: BBC)

*those 2 are actually taken from a website.

Now I can almost guarantee this guy doesn't have an affiliate agreement with the BBC or any of the other major magazines and newspapers or other websites he posts the news from. Is this a copyright infrigement?

Question 2: Information that I read in a forum and then use to help me write a commentary or review considered copyrighted?

Is it simply like it was back in school? When you used something someone else wrote you must give credit?

Thank you. I don't want to steal anyone's content :)

[edited by: engine at 7:42 pm (utc) on June 29, 2004]
[edit reason] examplified [/edit]

[Sanenet]

If in doubt - ask. Most sites shouldn't have a problem with you using part or all of an article if you give them full credit and a link back. (Unless you're reselling the article, naturally).

As for sourcing information - giving credit is always good. But if you're simply mentioning or sourcing the information, it's hardly copyright infringement.

[BigDave]

If you are just using someone else's literary content without permission, in whole, or a substantial part, then it is copyright infringement.

It is best not to assume about another's permissions. They may have requested permission to reproduce that specific article, the same way that you would if you were to ask. It doesn't have to be any sort of affiliate deal.

There are also allowed certain Fair Use rights to the material, but I suggest that you educate yourself as to what is fair use in your juristiction before entering that area.

The current situation is that everything, including email and forum posts, that is long enough to have any sort of literary value is copyrighted by default.

So the best rule of thumb is to get permission.

[photon]

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