OJR: News Sites Get Copyright Fever
- From: J Flenner <varney@[redacted]>
- Subject: OJR: News Sites Get Copyright Fever
- Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 13:22:17 -0400
http://ojr.usc.edu/content/story.cfm?request=597
Posted June 14, 2001
News Sites Get Copyright Fever
[Image]
But are they undermining free speech on the Net in the process?
By J.D. Lasica, OJR Senior Columnist
If you're like me, you probably feel a twinge of moral ambiguity
every time you download a free MP3 file -- say, the Vapors'
"Turning Japanese." (OK, so maybe no harm there.) But what's an
ethically upright citizen of the Web to do when she comes across
the curious little copyright icons and permissions notices that
have begun to sprout at the bottom of various online
publications?
In recent weeks, an increasing number of online news publications
have begun featuring links on staff-written stories that grant
instant reprint and permission rights -- for a price. These online
clearance systems permit a user to purchase the rights to
republish a news story on another site, or e-mail a formatted
copy of the story to groups of recipients, or print out formatted
copies for personal or business use.
<snip>
.
.
.
[Moderator: This post actually implicitly gives one answer to the
question posed in the first paragraph: giving a small quote, with
a reference to the full article, is generally allowed as fair use,
and does not require permission or payment. That's the
standard way to quote news articles on this list. (Summaries
and commentary are also permitted, and can be helpful.) - JMO]