can I scanned few articles from local newspapers and email it to my discussion community? I'm not gaining any money and also most people in my email list are not reachable to that newspaper.

You would probably want to call your newspaper first to make sure it is ok with them. It most likely will be, and it will help you avoid any problems/lawsuits in the longrun.

Brian

**EDIT:
You should also be able to quote them without permission by referencing that the material came from them... That is, of course, unless the newspaper says that none of their informaiton may be reprinted without express written permission.

Newspapers are generally considered to be part of the public record (in the U.S. anyway) so therefore are usually pretty cooperative in terms of being quoted and cited. However, that applies to brief quotations and not full reprints of stories. These days newspapers sell online content and it's big bucks. They may no longer be so lenient.

I would recommend two things just to be safe: 1.) contact the appropriate editor and ask permission; 2.) if the newspapers have online editions, provide a link to the stories in your email rather than the stories themselves.

If you choose not do either of the above, at least be sure you provide full attribution to the story. That means give the name of the newspaper, the name of the writer, edition date and section/page number of the paper. The story should include the complete and unedited text including the headline.

HTH

If you want to use the full text, you should get permission. Because copyright protects expression, rather than ideas per se, one can generally summarize a news article freely. Copying the whole thing verbatim, or copying substantial parts, is a different story.


[This does not constitute legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed. If you want legal advice you should hire an attorney. If you don't want to do that, you might at least read some of the articles here: http://www.loc.gov/copyright/]

[OK, so the disclaimer is longer than the post; the link to the copyright office makes up for it.]


[Edited by iBusinessLawyer on 11-05-2000 at 11:14 PM]

Personally I wouldn't worry about it too much. You said you're not making a profit out of it, and the intent seems hardly malicious. Once upon a time I'd agree with getting permission etc, but quite often these days the newpapers themselves rip content from online resources and publish it as their own with no disclaimer or references. If they can do it without much reprisal, I'm sure your posting it in a discussion isn't going to cause a lot of trouble for you.

Of course this is hardly legal advice either *lol*

Greg Moore
http://www.akashik.net

Whether you might profit from it in any way is irrelevant to the issue of copyright protection. So is your motive. You need to check the policy of the newspapers whose copy you wish to use.

I found there are no 'copyright notice' in that newspaper. I called their office and they told that I do not need to apply for permission if I send it to my nearest relative or friends who are not reachable to their newspaper.

When I ask for written approval they said it will takes few weeks to be considered and it will applied to each articles I scanned. That means if I wait for written approval the news is not news anymore, it will be out-dated news.

I think maybe I just scanned and send it to my email list, if the newspaper company complaint then I stop sending their articles anymore, maybe find similar articles from other newspapers.

Always, always, always *ask* before walking off with copyrighted materials.

Quotation of the material with attribution of the source cited is absolutely *not* a dodge you can use to avoid obtaining proper permission for use of the intellectual property of another.

Stealing someone's car but pasting a sign on it that says "I stole this car from John Doe" will get you great laughs in court, but won't shorten your sentence to the slammer one iota.

[Edited by etLux on 11-06-2000 at 02:21 PM]