Can I Copy That Article and Post It On My Web Site?

Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright law, it is okay to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words or percentage of a work, but unofficially, a 300 word or 15% rule has been used (based on some informal policy of major New York publishing houses from the 1900s).

Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. The Copyright Act sets out four factors to judge by (17 U.S.C. § 107):

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Related Reading

• The Basics of Copyright Well-Explained
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• Details on Fair Use
• Questions about Linking