Am I violating Copyrights law for using a part of the data in an article?

Question

I saw an interesting article/ 'Financial Table' in a Business magazine which I am interested to use in my business analysis with suitable modifications, as per my requirements. It is indicated at the bottom of the table: "Copyright 2000" and "All Rights Reserved". I understand that copying upto 20 pages is allowed by law. Also pl. note that I am not copying verbatim of the table. Is it acceptable that I am not infringing the Copy Rights of the publisher? Else pl. tell how to utilise the data?

Answer 1

Here's what the US Copyright Office has to say:

"Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors."

What is the function of your business analysis? Are you publishing this? Will it be kept in-house, so to speak? If you feel the fair usage description above does NOT describe your plans, contact a copyright attorney for proper advice.

The 20 page rule you're talking about simply does not exist as far I know or could find out.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 2

Copying upto 20 pages is allowed by law... which Idiot told you that ? You could get arrested for copying a paragraph without giving credit or specifying your sources (ask disgraced author Kavya Vishwanathan who lifted some paragraphs for her book and got caught - How Opal Mehta got kissed & got a life). Always acknowledge your sources in doing non-commercial work for news, parody, public interest information but anything which is for your gain or benefit permission has to be taken from copyright owner.

Answer 3

I havent studied law and not aware of this "20 page allowed" story. From a curtisy pov, rather than law, I'd say to mention this author/article/magazine in your credit/acknowledgement list.

But I hope someone who knows about law will answer your question.

Answer 4

if you acknowledged them it's okay. that's for most data. if they stated otherwise, they'll probably leave an email address for you to email to if you wish to use their stuff. it'll be safer if you can change some stuff of the data in any way, like paraphrase some stuff. just remember to acknowledge the publisher, where you found the data, and what date you looked at the data.

Answer 5

As far as I know, if you don't try to make money be reselling that copy, you're OK.