A stupid (?) question about copyright

[Mrs.Green]

I found some interesting articles on BCSS which I was going to link to on my blog. But the text below the articles got me wondering, I am allowed to or not? I read it as I am not allowed to post screenprint e.g. on my blog but does the same applies for a link to the articles?

This is the text in question; No part of this article may be reproduced without permission. Copyright BCSS and the Author 2022

[greenknight]

No problem with posting a link to it.

[Mrs.Green]

No problem with posting a link to it.

Thank you Greenknight Better safe than sorry was my thought..

[jerrytheplater]

You aren't posting the article, only pointing people to it.

[Mrs.Green]

You aren't posting the article, only pointing people to it.

Thank you Jerrytheplater That was my initial thought too but just to be on the safe side..

[DaveW]

These are the British Copyright Laws, but presumably your countries laws would be the ones that apply?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright

However as said above linking to the article on the Web is OK. Where problems may apply is if an article is in a printed Journal and you want to scan or photograph it and then put that on the web without the authors permission?

However as a member of the BCSS myself if you simply ask they will probably be OK if the article is credited to the author who actually retains the copyright and of course its the author who has allowed the BCSS permission to publish their work.

I believe there are now international agreements on time limits as to when things come out of copyright, usually 70 years. Anything published before that you are OK to reproduce.

https://www.nla.gov.au/using-library/co ... right-last#

[Mrs.Green]

These are the British Copyright Laws, but presumably your countries laws would be the ones that apply?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright

However as said above linking to the article on the Web is OK. Where problems may apply is if an article is in a printed Journal and you want to scan or photograph it and then put that on the web without the authors permission?

However as a member of the BCSS myself if you simply ask they will probably be OK if the article is credited to the author who actually retains the copyright and of course its the author who has allowed the BCSS permission to publish their work.

I believe there are now international agreements on time limits as to when things come out of copyright, usually 70 years. Anything published before that you are OK to reproduce.

https://www.nla.gov.au/using-library/co ... right-last#

Thank you DaveW I have kinda always assumed it was OK to link to an article. But for future reference, it is good to know that one can always (?) link to an article without risking problems.

[DaveW]

This is how I understand copywrite but I am not a lawyer so if anybody can correct me please do so.

Generally speaking the article or photographs belongs to the person who made them unless they have sold the copywrite, however you are not infringing their copywrite by linking to them since you are not actually copying them. As far as I understand if you copy a picture or article from another site or publication and reproduce it elsewhere online or in print without the authors permission then you are infringing their copywrite, even if you say attribute the picture to them.

There are exceptions for review, just as Mrs Green quotes my previous post above (see under Fair Use in US Copywrite law below), but you could risk problems if you posted a full article or pictures in another publication without permission. Also copying an article or picture for your own personal use is usually exempt provided you do not then publish it elsewhere. Copywrite exists for 70 years or so, therefore unless its from a very old publication assume its still copywrite.

Here is US Copywrite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright ... ted_States

Regarding international copywrite law. Most countries have now signed the Berne Convention on International Copywrite.

I can quote from the following link for purposes of review, but if I copied the whole article rather than linked to it I would need their permission since it is copywrite itself:

"Each Berne member country automatically provides citizens from other member countries with, at a minimum, the same copyright protections it provides for its own citizens. This is the notion of national treatment.

For example, when you photocopy an article in Australia, you apply Australian law — even if that article originates from an American or British author/copyright owner. Similarly, if you show a French film in public in a U.S. theatre, you apply U.S. copyright law with respect to the right to perform a work in public."

https://www.copyrightlaws.com/introduct ... heir%20own.

However for minor or accidental infringements few would be prepared to take you to court in another country since that would be unprofitable. Only blatant cases of piracy of intellectual property would be worth prosecuting, but still do not do it.

Basically if you are worried about anything you post on line being copied by somebody somewhere in the world don't post it on the Web. Probably some of our articles and pictures may be being copied somewhere in the world. There used to be a fad of putting "copywrite" across pictures until it was realised with specialist software like Photoshop this can be taken off again by those who want to steal images. If you can remove things in the background with the "clone stamp" in photo editing software you can remove any copywrite message put on it. If the copywrite message is really intrusive and difficult to remove it has ruined to point of posting the image anyway.

[Mrs.Green]

DaveW; Thank you very much for the detailed information. You always write interesting and educational posts!