Copyright

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markwilding
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Copyright

Postby markwilding » Sun Oct 15, 2017 2:59 am

I copied and pasted an answer to a question FROMquestion and answer forum.

Now and again I post answers to English language and grammar questions on the site. I get regular emails mostly on this subject inviting me to comment

But recently the emails have included input on the Catalonia problem and a yesterday a specific question caught my eye so I read the answer which mirrored my opinion exactly. It was written so well and I admit I couldn’t articulate it as well as the writer so I copied and pasted it into an already written post as an edit. However, It wasn't lifted from his book.

I thought about crediting it to the writer but as I considered the message as the most important thing and concluded nobody would have heard of the guy anyway. I might have been morally wrong but was I acting against forum rules in this case?

So the questions are
Are these answers copyright including the ones I write, even though I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to copy my stuff, not that I would mind anyway.

Is what is posted on this forum copyright?

I understand that taking input from books would be copyright but does that extend to an open forum?

El Cid
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Re: Copyright

Postby El Cid » Sun Oct 15, 2017 7:59 am

As I said, there is currently no forum rule about copyright.

I commented on the subject because another poster raised the question. I have no wish to overcomplicate the rules, but copyright is something that should be taken into account when you post.

Some forums have pretty draconian rules - such as this from another forum.

7. Copyrighted Material
You cannot legally post entire articles or news, or other copyrighted material in the forum without permission from the copyright holder. Even if you attribute the article/material correctly it is still copyright infringement. Minor fair use excerpts of less than one paragraph or 4 sentences may be used if the content is publically available on the internet. All other forms of inserted content from press releases, newsletters, web pages, or any other copyrighted content placed into messages will be removed without exception. A link to the content is acceptable and appropriate.


I have no wish for it to be as complicated as this, but I would just ask that members take the issue into account and if they think there may be copyright issues, just credit the source or give a link to it.

Sid

TorreDelAguila
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Re: Copyright

Postby TorreDelAguila » Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:06 am

These days, copyright automatically belongs to the author/writer/creator of a piece, including text, images, music, etc etc. There is no longer a need for the author to 'register' or claim copyright.

You can overlay on top of that the copyright that exists in the publisher's product: so for a printed book, for example, there exist multiple copyrights: author, typography, published edition. If photos or drawings are included, then those too.

You're right - where websites quote others' work, it should be credited - even if just a few words alongside. Use of material without acknowledgement gets rather close to plagiarism, and probably dilutes the credibility of the quote.
Chris

markwilding
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Location: Bilbao Spain

Re: Copyright

Postby markwilding » Sun Oct 15, 2017 10:08 am

Thanks for your answers.
In this case, i wasn’t quoting his work more his opinion to a question. I will edit the post to include his name though.

Recently the Trumps have been critized for copying speeches.Would this be similar?

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firsttango
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Re: Copyright

Postby firsttango » Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:22 am

TorreDelAguila wrote:T
You're right - where websites quote others' work, it should be credited - even if just a few words alongside. Use of material without acknowledgement gets rather close to plagiarism, and probably dilutes the credibility of the quote.
Sadly you do see it a lot these days on Forums in particular, thankfully very rarely on A.Com. TorreDelAguila I agree with you once highlighted it does tend to destroy the credibility of the poster, IMO it makes them look either lazy or stupid. You should always credit the original authors work rather than try and enhance one's own "intellect" by just blatant copying in an attempt to claim it as ones own! Common sense should prevail and as Sid says just a simple credit/link to source material should suffice.

markwilding
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Posts: 7777
Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:02 am
Location: Bilbao Spain

Re: Copyright

Postby markwilding » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:59 pm

I must admit up to a point it was laziness but I don’t want my mistake to dilute the message.
I still think the author’s piece hits the nail on the head


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