possible plagiarism/copyright web problem

October 28, 2006 2:37 PM

I want to start a website as a hobby basically. I have several books/articles on a subject that interests me and seemingly some other people too. I think I have all the books/articles available in English on this topic. This area is very poorly covered on the internet. I want to use the knowledge I have, but I don't want to be accused of plagiarism or run into copyright problems. I won't "copy" anything word for word or scan any of the illustrations from the books.

As an imaginary example: Suppose I have every book dedicated to "Freemasons in Brazil"


A) Is it wrong for me to start a website where, in effect, I'd summarise/expand on/collate the knowledge I have gained from the books and articles to make an exhaustive resource?


B) Would it be wrong for me to put google ads (or similar) to cover the hosting?


C) What about the illustrations from the books? Could I use those as a base to draw my own similar, but again different, images?


D) I imagine I should somewhere mention where the info I have has come from? Partly from curtesy and partly incase anyone wanted to get hold of them for themselves.


E) Will I have created anything "original" when/if this website is live?


I imagine if I was lucky with the ads, I might cover my hosting. But I want to do the right thing and also partly I'm curious about the principal.

posted by selton to media & arts (8 comments total)

A) Is it wrong for me to start a website where, in effect, I'd summarise/expand on/collate the knowledge I have gained from the books and articles to make an exhaustive resource?

No.

B) Would it be wrong for me to put google ads (or similar) to cover the hosting?

No.

C) What about the illustrations from the books? Could I use those as a base to draw my own similar, but again different, images?

Yes.

D) I imagine I should somewhere mention where the info I have has come from? Partly from curtesy and partly incase anyone wanted to get hold of them for themselves.

Yes.

E) Will I have created anything "original" when/if this website is live?

Yes.
posted by jayder at 2:52 PM on October 28, 2006

I do something similar, although I scanned all the original material and uploaded it to make it available, without a second thought TBH. I viewed sharing this fantastic, forgotten material as more important than any legal concern. That was my choice, and the fact that all the people concerned are long dead, none of the material is available for sale, and the subject is almost forgotten encouraged me to both share it in it's entirety and disregard the possibility of legal problems. I don't think you'd have many problems quoting the material while naming the source. IANAL, YMMV.
posted by fire&wings at 2:56 PM on October 28, 2006

Check into the Amazon affiliate program or something similar, as well. If the books are carried there, you can set up a mini "store" on your site or at least put your affiliate ID in the link to the book so you'll be making a small amount by pointing people toward the source material.
posted by mikeh at 2:56 PM on October 28, 2006

I think you owe it to your subject to make this information available. I am more for putting entire texts online than for reserving this kind of rare work for the people who can afford to pay $600 for a first edition from a rare books shop. It's not like the writers are getting any of money at this point--the supposed purpose of copyright.

But reigniting interest in a forgotten topic? That is only good for the artist in question. I also think that adding critique is definitely creating new value. Criticism is a pretty huge part of academic writing.
posted by shownomercy at 3:03 PM on October 28, 2006

I run a similar website. Not about Brazilian freemasons, but certainly for a topic that could run afoul of copyright law. I am very careful to keep my content within Fair Use guidelines as I understand them, and I have gone the extra step of having a standard footer that attributes proper copyright ownership to the publisher that owns the property.

I have been running the site for nearly ten years now, and I know full well that the copyright owners are very much aware of my site. Thus far they have been cool about the whole thing, apparently comfortable in the knowledge that I am clear to my readers about who owns the property, and that I also sell books for them. Early on I was fully prepared to have to shut down the site should I ever get a cease and desist letter, but thus far it has not been an issue. I had one minor incident with an author who was involved with the material, and it was very easily and amicably resolved.

I would recommend you read up on Fair Use laws, and that you pay close attention to staying within their bounds. As long as you do that, you should be fine. And you will be amazed at how many people you will discover who share your seemingly obscure interest. Good luck!
posted by Lokheed at 3:33 PM on October 28, 2006

I agree with Lokheed. Read up on Fair Use. You shouldn't have a problem being accused of plagiarism if you cite your sources.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 3:50 PM on October 28, 2006

Doesn't sound like you'll be violating any parts of copyright law. Copyright protects word-for-word text, not ideas and facts. Drawing your own images and writing your own text is just fine.

Partly from curtesy and partly incase anyone wanted to get hold of them for themselves.

Make sure to get a spell checker, though.
posted by knave at 8:05 PM on October 28, 2006

It sounds like you're planning on writing an essay that sums up the material from a few old books. (An informational website really is just an essay in a more accessable format.)

This is the sort of thing that college writing teachers assign all the time. There are hundreds of books, articles and websites designed to walk freshmen through the process. Plagiarism is a hot-button issue these days, so most of them will explain — in simple terms and excruciating detail — what is or isn't plagiarism.

So get yourself to a campus bookstore and pick up a writer's manual. It'll give you all the information you need to do this correctly.

(You might also look at Wikipedia's guidelines on citing sources. They can be a bit confusing, and they include information about the Wikipedia community that you won't need on this project, but they also have some web-specific information that might be helpful to you.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:37 AM on October 29, 2006