Personal quotes

> Quick question:

> Are personal quotes that are included in
> magazine
> and newspaper articles copyright protected?

Hi Troy,

I think everything is protected by copyright automatically nowadays. The only exceptions I can think of are writings where the copyright has expired (this generally means writings up to the 1920s), or US Government publications, or things which have been specifically placed in the public domain.

However, if the quote isn't very long, then you can safely quote it under "fair use".

The US Copyright Office at the Library of Congress web site is a good resource for copyright questions - I've placed the link below....

Copyright-free materials can be a useful source of "free reports" and things like that. I'm amazed at the diversity of stuff the US Government publishes which is copyright-free and can be used and as your own resource. If you rewrite it in parts, you can even legally put your own copyright on it.

Even some older publications can be useful. You can find copies of Claude Hopkins book Scientific Advertising floating around the internet for free (here's another place to get it). The copyright has expired on this work so you can use it however you wish.

Another interesting use of a copyright-free work is The Science of Getting Rich. The copyright on the original book has expired, but Rebecca Fine "rewrote" it by updating the language and also wrote an introduction, and as a result she can put her own copyright on her "updated" version. Clever thinking. :)

- Dien Rice


Answers to your copyright questions here....