Comments on: Research Materials & Copyright

By: Richard Tofel

Richard Tofel — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:04:50 +0000

The hard-and-fast rules laid out at the top of this graf are belied both by the more subtle and complex discussion later on, and by the law itself. Fair use is heavily dependent on context, and while soft guidelines may help the unwary, clear rules just aren’t possible in this area. I’d suggest a bit of re-writing here to stress complexity at first, and then illustrate with some of the particular numerical examples on which the previous version was based.

By: Erik Sherman

Erik Sherman — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:54:48 +0000

But fair use is a tricky concept. According to the copyright statutes, It depends on 1) whether the use is commercial (journalism is generally clear on this), 2) the nature of the copyrighted work, 3) what amount of the work in relation to the whole is used and to what degree it is the heart of the work, and 4) the effect of the use on the potential market of the work.

By: Erik Sherman

Erik Sherman — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:43:17 +0000

They should realize that someone might incorrectly confirm information. I’ve had PR people suggest the wrong spelling for someone’s name, and had employees at a company not know the full legal name of the business, to say nothing of a company whose web site referred to the business in two different ways.

By: Sue Russell

Sue Russell — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:29:04 +0000

At any size? Only in its entirety? I’d be interested to know how that works given TV’s propensity to flash, say, a bunch of newspaper front pages to illustrate that a story is getting massive coverage.

By: amy van vechten

amy van vechten — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 02:47:14 +0000

As a producer and video journalist, I often struggle with the ins and outs of fair use policy. There are basic rules I understand — for example, that it is not permitted to take a photo from someone’s site and use it — but it gets tricky when a small amount of someone else’s footage may or may not be fair to use depending on “whether the excerpt goes to the heart of the material or whether it is merely explanatory.” I find myself often shrinking away from using anything but material I have created myself, just to be safe. But is there a better way to be sure?

By: Brooke Kroeger

Brooke Kroeger — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:58:46 +0000

Two other good reasons for attributing fully and with care: (1) the professional courtesy it properly accords the person who did the original research or provided the information and (2) the arm’s length it gives the writer if the appropriated information turns out to be wrong.