How much is safe to quote from external articles?

In order to keep ambulance-chasers at bay, should we totally avoid literal quotes/copypasta from external news articles?

I generally summarize external articles in my own words anyway, but I do occasionally snip a bit of literal quote to use as a link title or a teaser.

At what point does a quotation become large enough to ease into a copyright violation? Is there a word count limit?

there isn't a word count limit per se but we do require that you only add a paragraph or two and than put the rest in your owns/add your thoughts or opinions of the article.

It is summed up in this post by Springer

Mod Edit: Posting Work Written By Others – Please Review This Link.

Hope that helps.



[edit on 25-7-2010 by GAOTU789]

We have a specific limit detailed for submissions to the Breaking Alternative News forum (500 characters) but generally a few paragraphs is the encouraged limit.

As well, the following link provides a safeguard for those who wish their material to be removed.

DMCA

Hope this helps...

I don't think I've ever posted something purely a cut-and-paste, but recent events led me to wonder if I should be re-wording pretty much everything instead of using literal quotes, even short ones.

In one of the recent articles about these copyright trolls, they interviewed some journalists to ask them how much is OK. They said generally 3 paragraphs for a decent size article, or less if it's very small.

ATS seems to go along with this kind of rule too.

you must use the QUOTE BOX TAG, post NO MORE THAN 15% of the original (or three paragraphs, whichever is least), and GIVE A LINK TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL

www.abovetopsecret.com...

This site is asking for trouble if you continue to allow the posting of external news stories, several other discussion forums I am a member of have already banned any such posting as a result of recent lawsuits.

It's only a matter of time before the company that has been set up specifically to bring these lawsuits will take note of this site's volume, and work their way around to you.

I also posted this in Breaking:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Just wanted to put things on record so I can link back to this thread when the inevitable happens.

reply to post by Retseh


Actually, the Bill Irvine quoted in that article is our very own SkepticOverlord. There was already a thread from a few days ago here

reply to post by Retseh


We have already been sued by "Righhthaven" with zero notification prior to the suit being filed. You can read about it at Wired.com or the Las Vegas Sun.

We are strict about abiding the DMCA and we are confident their suit lacks merit. We are fighting it.

Springer...

reply to post by Retseh

Just wanted to put things on record so I can link back to this thread when the inevitable happens.

The funny thing is, if you even bothered to read just a little of the wired story you made a thread about, your would realize it has already happened, and already been posted numerous times.

Bill Irvine of Phoenix says he is fighting infringement allegations targeting AboveTopSecret.com, the site he controls under The Above Network. The

www.wired.com...

Try reading young padawan

Originally posted by ZombieJesus
The funny thing is, if you even bothered to read just a little of the wired story you made a thread about, your would realize it has already happened, and already been posted numerous times.

I'm going to plead guilty as charged on this one, I didn't read the entirety of my own link, and the irony of ATS being mentioned in there is obviously not lost on me. I honestly had no idea we were already in his sights.

I actually lifted the story from another site I visit that had it linked for similar reasons, that site has now banned all MSM links.

In the interim, would it not be prudent to remove all such links, at least until the court case is settled?

Anyhoo, good luck with the lawsuit, I would certainly miss the site.

[edit on 26-7-2010 by Retseh]

Originally posted by Retseh

Originally posted by ZombieJesus
The funny thing is, if you even bothered to read just a little of the wired story you made a thread about, your would realize it has already happened, and already been posted numerous times.

I'm going to plead guilty as charged on this one, I didn't read the entirety of my own link, and the irony of ATS being mentioned in there is obviously not lost on me. I honestly had no idea we were already in his sights.

I actually lifted the story from another site I visit that had it linked for similar reasons, that site has now banned all MSM links.

In the interim, would it not be prudent to remove all such links, at least until the court case is settled?

Anyhoo, good luck with the lawsuit, I would certainly miss the site.














[edit on 26-7-2010 by Retseh]

Just to demonstrate the MAX size that the new text/quote box will scale to prior to scrolling being required.

Good stuff, Bill!


Now, add...

overflow-x: hidden;

... to the CSS and get rid of that annoying and unnecessary horizontal scroll bar.