Intellectual property

[Tim M]

Hello Mr. Wexler,

Considering forums, do you know if direct quotes from this forum can be printed without having to seek the request of the writer? This is considering using in a commercial sense. Do magazines like sound & picture for example ever quote subjects and writings from this forum? and is it legal to do so? and what considerations do you know must be taken into account to have it be legal...

Thanks much!

Tim

[John Blankenship]

It depends. When you say, "commercial" sense, do you mean it's being used to sell a product, or do you mean you'd be quoting something in an article? There's definitely a difference, as I believe "fair use" comes into play for editorial product (and there are specific guidelines as to under what conditions, and how much you can quote), whereas, if it's being used to sell a product, I'd say you definitely need to get permission.

However, take my comments as general and definitely not specific advice as I'm not an expert in this area -- I know just enough to know when I need to find out more.

I hope Jim Feeley and/or Jay Rose weigh in on this. They've both had extensive experience in writing and submitting articles for publication.

I will say that when possible, it's good form to get permission, as a courtesy, if nothing else.

NOTE: I didn't realize until after I'd posted this that you had addressed the question specifically to Jeff. I was not trying to speak for him.

Edited April 17, 2012 by John Blankenship

[OmahaAudio]

Considering forums, do you know if direct quotes from this forum can be printed without having to seek the request of the writer? This is considering using in a commercial sense.

If I've written something it's a creation that's copyrighted the second it's made. If someone wanted to print something written here they should, in the strictest sense, get the permission of the author before using it in for commercial or other purposes. If they are reviewing or commenting on what's written then "fair use" comes into play, but commercial use requires permission (and payment if I'm in a bad mood or you're a big company with lots of money...)

[Jeff Wexler]

Thank you John and Jim for commenting --- the original post was addressed to me but I know very little about this. Common courtesy would be my guide in most situations but I think permission and possibly compensation are certainly in order if something I have written is being re-published for a commercial purpose.

[Jim Feeley]

Speaking as a long-time magazine editor and text & visual journalist who's dealt these sorts of issues from all sides of the octagonal table (including consulting and rebuffing lawyers)... here's a brief gloss...NB: I'm not a lawyer and my comments should be read for entertainment purposes only:

The commercial/non-commercial/journalistic distinctions are blurry enough to be nonexistent. Legally speaking, if you don't seek permission, you want to make sure your quotes fall under the hazy principle of fair use. Here's a brief & useful overview written by a lawyer from Nolo:

http://fairuse.stanf...rview/chapter9/

So you're OK if you're writing an article that substantially contains your own thoughts and you say "a mixer on jwsoundgroup.net had an interesting thought about all this. Here's a brief quote:..."

But if your article has a short intro saying, "Here's what the people on JWS think about this year's NAB conference" and the rest of the article is built from quotes from this forum, you're not OK...Unless you get permission from everyone you quote and, I'd say, from the forum's owner (i.e., Jeff).

If you're writing a white paper for a company, or even filling in text for an advertisement, the legal concepts of fair use still apply (think of movie posters with quotes from critics) but expect to be held to a tighter interpretation of fair use.

But let's step away from the law and consider the ethics of quoting people's writings on this forum. JWS is basically a bunch of people chatting around a virtual water cooler or bar. Though we are each publishing what we write, we don't think of it that way. We're just chatting. The polite and community-minded thing to do is to ask people for permission to quote them. If you're quoting several people's comments on the same subject, consider also asking Jeff.

I've quoted people's online comments. A few times, I quoted someone without asking permission; those are a very special cases though. For example, one guy wrote and confirmed something truly newsworthy that their boss was publicly denying. A couple other cases dealt with public figures speaking of stuff clearly (to me anyway) important to the public interest.

But in the vast majority of cases, I ask people for permission. I haven't paid for quotes, though. And come to think of it, I've rarely being turned down. If I am, I consider the importance of the quote and the quoted, the shifting guidelines of fair use, and if I can just do the story without them and their quote.

If I were to quote someone's post on jwsound, I can't envision not asking permission. Seems like the neighborly thing to do.

This ended up a bit longer than I intended. Hope at least part of it is a little helpful.