Explain copyright laws to me

[AgentMail]

Hi All,

I have just found a great article about why direct mail delivers greater results for businesses, and I want to use it to mail out to my potential customers. What I wanted to know is, can I print it (without changes) and mail it?

Secondly, can I make changes to the size/layout of it, without amending the content and use it, or is this in breach of copyright - or are both of these instances in breach of copyright?

I have made contact with the site, but it is not very active, and their 'privacy policy' just links straight back to their homepage.

Any advice, as always is much appreciated

[Calcul8or]

Going by my own experiences and recollections from uni and the numerous research papers I did, and as far as I know, you can use any material you find in any form, so long as you provide a reference, or credit the source of the information you've used.

I like the added credibility you gain when you quote someone who supports your own views, and i guess the only time you would run the risk of getting into trouble is when you fail to acknowledge the source of your material, and end up (intentionally or not) making it look as if it's all your own work.

I am no expert in this field I hasten to add, and will happily concede to the enlightened words of someone who is, even if that means blowing everything I said above out of the water, in which case we both would have learned something!

[JacquiPryor]

Hi AgentMail,

The Copyright Council states:

"Generally, it will be an infringement if someone uses a substantial part of copyright material, without the permission of the copyright owner, in a way exclusively reserved to the copyright owner (unless there is a special exception for you to use)."

One of the 'ways exclusive reserved to the copyright owner' in the case of written material such as articles is the right to reproduce it and communicate it to the public. - and, unfortunately being unable to contact the owner/author does not necessarily mean you can go ahead and do it.

If you visit www.copyright.org.au you can download fact sheets that set out a lot of information and examples of when you do/don't need permission etc. (I tried to attach the specific one to this post but the file's too large).

If you go specifically to: http://www.copyright.org.au/find-an-answer - you can search for fact sheets, but they also have several 'main' ones just sitting on that particular page including about infringement/when you need permission etc.

Morally, if you are able to obtain permission you will most likely need to attribute the author appropriately.

If the site is a .com.au you can search it's deatils at www.ausregistry.com.au and you may be able to obtain an email address rather than having to try to contact via the site; if not a .com.au there are several sites that will allow 'whois' look ups that might give you this information.

Hope it helps!

[JacquiPryor]

Originally Posted by Calcul8or

Going by my own experiences and recollections from uni and the numerous research papers I did, and as far as I know, you can use any material you find in any form, so long as you provide a reference, or credit the source of the information you've used.

I like the added credibility you gain when you quote someone who supports your own views, and i guess the only time you would run the risk of getting into trouble is when you fail to acknowledge the source of your material, and end up (intentionally or not) making it look as if it's all your own work.

I am no expert in this field I hasten to add, and will happily concede to the enlightened words of someone who is, even if that means blowing everything I said above out of the water, in which case we both would have learned something!

NB: "Research" is one of the specific categories that can see you exempt from needing permission - it's not necessarily the same for use in a mail out/promotional campaign for business. So, whilst you are right for the purpose you were using quotes/extracts etc, the same won't necessarily apply 'across the board'.

[victorng]

Also, don't forget the 'fair' part of the fair dealing exceptions.

Even if your use falls within one of the specific exceptions (news reporting, parody or satire, research or study, criticism or review), you don't get carte blanche to copy etc. To use an extreme example, reproducing an entire novel as part of a book review wouldn't be fair dealing.

Cheers,
Victor