Forum Moderators: phranque
Would it be plagiarism to copy and paste the news article from this site and post it to my site?
A certain site in a simliar scenario has contacted me threatening legal action if i dont remove the copy and pasted articles.
What are the legalities of this? Isn't it free speech or something? Do they really have the copyright to the story? Will i have to "rewrite" the story in my own words?
Thanks
Sounds like pure outright theft in both the case above and your scenario.
What are the legalities of this?
What you're doing is illegal and does not fall under the category of "fair use". [fairuse.stanford.edu]
Isn't it free speech or something?
Free speech protects your right to speak your own views, not your right to copy other's work verbatim
Do they really have the copyright to the story?
Yes.
Will i have to "rewrite" the story in my own words?
If you want to avoid legal liabilities... yes.
To learn more on copyright laws, myths, and realities...
10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained [templetons.com]
What Is Copyright Protection [whatiscopyright.org]
U.S. Copyright Office [loc.gov]
It goes beyond just using your "own words." You may be called upon in the future, since you've ripped off material from a site already, to prove to them that you're using your own information as well.
To illustrate what I mean by this... some people plagiarize history books, thinking you can't copyright history. To combat this, though, some historians add unique twists on material to their books, which, if they see elsewhere, they know has been lifted from them.
If you're pulling exclusive stories about the Rolling Stones, eg, from this site, the site might go after you. If the site is paying the AP for their material, maybe it will be the AP that will go after you.
