Chris Gatewood, an intellectual property attorney from Hirschler Fleischer in Richmond, summarized Fair Use of other people’s work with respect to blogging in four succinct points at WordCamp last weekend:
- Is the original work being reused for commercial or non-commercial purposes?
- What type of work is being copied (factual vs. creative). Classic example is the phone book.
- How much of the work is used? There is no hard and fast rule, for example, like three lines or less.
- Effect upon the potential market for the original work. Can be very subjective.
Of course, the solid gold way to use content from others is to get permission. Citing sources and using links boosts your cred and lowers your risks as well.
Good presentation on legal issues for bloggers. Thanks Chris!
