Fair Use: Useful Rule Of Thumb
In conducting my Intellectual Property series on The Insider’s Guide to Law and Ethics in Mental Health, the concept of “Fair Use” has been most difficult to pin down. I have attempted get a working definition from the publishers, editors and authors but it is an extremely complex and understandably a difficult concept to articulate in any one brief interview or single article. See for example, When you see COPIED AS FAIR USE is it always Fair?
Nevertheless, I recently had communication with Mr. Damon Kiesow Managing Editor /Online for the Nashua Telegraph and he provided a rule of thumb which helps clarity the issue. It is worth reading and considering closely for anyone who quotes another online for any reason. We are indebted to Mr. Kiesow and the Nashua Telegraph for their granting permission to reprint his response.
John -
Well, as you say - fair use is a pretty complicated question, especially to answer in an email. So let me give a brief answer and let me know if that is helpful.
Without fear of being too far out on a limb - your provided example does not constitute fair use 1. My rule of thumb definition is typically based on the 'substantial portion' formula. I take that to mean in most cases, that a paragraph or two of a full article, along with a link is permissible. Under that guideline, most Web infringement does not really require much consideration to identify.
I can imagine a few examples where 90% of the article could be reprinted fairly if interspersed with specific commentary or rebuttal of points made throughout the text. But that is really more along the lines of a new work that references the original - not an actual copy-paste job such as you are pointing out.
The Telegraph does have a permissions process - and we do grant rights to individuals and groups to republish our work online and in print fairly regularly. However, we only do so for staff created work, and typically it is for non-commercial use.
Please let me know if that helps answer your question.
Thanks
1. I directed Mr. Kiesow to a post that recently appeared to a popular Yahoo Discussion or listsetv known for copying articles from news sources , magazine and journals The particular example was a post of an article, First-in-the-nation law pits N.H. against drug industry published on November 10,2006 and was originally published by NashuaTelegraph.com. The poster who claims to have a PhD is no doubt well intentioned but apparently quite misinformed about fair use. This common practice suggest that more training about intellectual property is necessary at schools of psychology, social work and counseling.
