Hi All.
This seemed the logical place to put this question. Iplan to write a small article for my fishing club and what I would like to know is:- would I be breaking the copyright if I used small pieces (two paragraphs max) from books that I have in my library even if I gave the Author, Title, Publisher and ISBN number?

ERnie

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May the fluff be with you

Hi Ernie,

IIRC, as long as you publicise the data as you have said, I dont see it being a problem, as you are still giving the original Author the credit for the work they have created and that you are quoting.

IMO, Its the same as the 'footnotes' principle on Essays/Discertations.

Keep A'Howld
GC

Thanks Marra.

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May the fluff be with you

Quoting in an article would probably be alright as long as the quoted paragraphs are attributed to the original author. You may have to get permission from the publishers. Look in the books in question and see if there is a ' No part of this publication can be used . etc. .... without the approval of ...etc.'.

I tried looking through this but couldn't find anything pertinent

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988..._19880048_en_1

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Don't worry, be happy.
Sandy
Carried it in full, then carry it out empty.

You may find this of use - the "Quoting for publication" bit.


http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/In...ad,5945,en.pdf

Generally, I'd say not. For the purposes of journalism, which is what you are engaged in, this falls under what (in the US at least) is considered to be fair use. It's acceptable to use portions of copyrighted work without the copyright owner's permission for comment, criticism, news reporting or other forms of journalism, scholarly works, etc.

Of course, you're required to attribute the portion of the copyrighted work that you are citing to its owner and source. Different publications have different standards for this, but generally it is enough to cite the author's name, the title of the work, and/or the title of the publication.

So for the example you give, you might write something like this:

Robert Fishless, in his book, Flies that Look Good, but Don't Catch Fish offers the following advice about effectively and consistently blanking.

The blank is one of the most difficult aspects of angling to master. As is readily displayed at every stillwater in the UK on any given weekend, it takes no skill at all to blank poorly. Hundreds, nae, even thousands of anglers can (and do!) blank and blank badly.

Where's the skill in that?

Now to blank well, that's a skill worth the effort it will take to master. It isn't easy. It takes the right kit, acquired at considerable cost, the right attitude, and the right skills. Only after years of practice and devoted study do I feel myself to be qualified to offer these meager 500 pages of my humble thoughts on the subject.

The amount of text that you are allowed to use and still claim fair use must be in proportion to your purpose for using it. You can't reproduce an entire copyrighted book, just to make a couple of points about it.

Grouse

as long as you are referencing and as long as you publish along side who it is accredited to you are not breaching copywrite.

in other words, you cannot pass off someone elses work as your own, you can, however, use bits as long as you give the original author the credit.

Dont worry about it - nobody is going to serve you a writ because you quote them. Authors and publishers of fishing books are not exactly attack dogs when it comes to their work being namechecked.I used quotes from Frank Zappa to John Gierach in my book and publisher told me that rule of thumb is don't quote more than a page .I cant say I threw a hissy fit when someone quoted me recently - I was actually rather flattered!

You would be OK under the UK copyright excemption which is called "Fair Dealing" ("Fair Use" in the USA) which allows reproduction of small parts of copyrighted works for "crticism or review" (and also for news reporting). The rule is that you must credit the work that you're quoting. The exception does not apply to still photographs where you always need the permission of the owner. Copyright law is never clear cut and always open to interpretation / based on case law, but as long as you are not quoting large chunks of someone's writing, you should be OK. It's important to understand that when you use someone else's work under "Fair Dealing", it doesn't mean the owner can't sue you - "Fair Dealing" is simply the defence you could use in court.(I've spent the past 10 years running large commercial news footage and photo licensing businesses so have quite a lot of exposure to this subject).

Thanks for replies. I can now go ahead and write my article without any sleepless nights.

Ernie

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May the fluff be with you