SolveYourProblem Article Series: Copyrights
I Need To Understand Copyright Law
What
Is Fair Use Copyright Law?
Don’t Overstep the Fair Use Copyright Law
Many people are interested in the fair use copyright law.
The fair use copyright law enables people to use
portions of material that is copyrighted for the purposes
of criticism
or as commentary. The hard part for many people is understanding
what is permissible under the fair use copyright law and what
is not permissible. Anyone who writes or publishes should brush
up on what is allowed and what is not allowed. Using another
person’s words to make news reports, to use as a comment or
criticism or to use for research, scholarship, or for educational
uses that are nonprofit are generally considered fair use.
In these instances, the fair use copyright law allows one person
or author to make use of another person or author’s work without
asking permission to do so. In situations that do not fall
within these specifications you are probably violating someone’s
copyright if you use their work – especially if you are using
another person’s work for economic or commercial gain.
When you are trying to see if you can use another’s words,
you should keep a few things in mind. The answer to the following
questions will help you gage whether you would be violating
a copyright.
First,
are you transforming someone else’s work or are you copying
it?
Second,
are you going to be making any financial gains from your
work that would compete with the
original copyright holder?
Third,
do you have the author’s permission to quote their work?
Just because you list the
author and give credit to him or her does not protect
you from infringing
upon someone’s copyright.
Fourth,
how much of the original author’s work are you using? If
you are using a substantial
amount of another’s work, you are probably in direct
violation of their copyright. Many publishing companies
have set
rules on how much material they will allow to be quoted
in other
sources. Some of these ranges start at 100 words or
less. However, there are truly no standards to go by, so
be
careful. You can
not assume that keeping your copying fewer than 50
words will allow you to pass under the radar – especially
if
the original
piece is hovering around 125 words itself!
Lastly,
what portion of another’s work are you using? If it is
the meat
of the
book and the most important part of the book, you
are probably in
direct violation of the owner’s copyright. With a little common sense it is not hard to decide if you
are violating someone’s copyright. People who are truly interested
in staying within the guidelines of the fair use copyright
law usually do a good job of doing so. Many people push the
fair use copyright law right up to the line, while others will
blatantly cross over it without giving a second thought to
the repercussions. When these people are summoned to court
to answer for their vagrant disregard for the property and
copyright of another they are usually sorry. Sorry they got
caught! It is very important that people who take advantage
of the fair use copyright law are held accountable for their
actions. Without accountability many more people would follow
in their footsteps and use another’s works as their own.
# # # # # SolveYourProblem.com
: 2008
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