I want to start a forum on a certain subject.I read several books about God, and i find there is so much controvery on is there or is there not a God. When i read these two books written by the same person i thought WOW, there's some good stuff in here that realy make sence. So i want to be able to discuss what is in these books and get other people views on it. Would this be legal. It's kinda like when i took a critical thinking class we had to read books and then have an open discussion on it. How can i go about this legaly?
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If you've read my other posts you'll see that I make no absolute judgments about fair use due to the nature of the beast. Fair use, to recap, is a defense and whether an act of copying is or is not fair use is up to a judge or a jury, which can only be determined after you've been sued.
With that being said, as well as the usual "I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice" caveats, I can say pretty safely that commentary and criticism are two of the most protected uses of a work.
Without fair use, for example, it would be illegal to copy quotes from a book to illustrate points about it. You couldn't use clips from a TV show to be critical of its content. Etc.
Discussing a book, or any other copyrighted work, is a fairly safe activity. You can use portions and quotes from the book so long as you take only what you need and, to show good faith, attribute well.
Though, once again, I don't make absolute judgments about fair use and it certainly does not prevent the copyright holder from trying to sue or request takedown, commentary and criticism are two of the most protected forms of speech when looking at fair use.
It is extremely rare that a site that discusses another work finds itself in copyright trouble and those situations usually emerge from excessive copying, not from the actual discussion.
If discussing a work were illegal, I doubt we've have any literary, movie, music or television forums on the Web.
Just keep your quotes as short as possible, always attribute and keep the focus on your own commentary and writing. If you do that, you likely won't have much in the way of a problem.
As always, remember that I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice...
Jonathan Bailey - plagiarismtoday.com
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