Copyright: if you didn’t write it, you can’t use it

I’ve received several questions this past week about using text from emails, forums postings, and chats in your writing.

The general rule of thumb is that the only words you have the copyright for are your own. This means that if you exchange emails with an interviewee, you can’t use their words. If you have permission in writing however, you could quote them, but be very wary of using more than a few sentences. Make it clear that you are quoting, as well as the circumstances of the quote.

Viz:

In an email message to me, John Smith said: “______________”

With forum postings, you own your own words. (Generally speaking. Check the forum’s TOS.) When I post to a forum, I save my posts to files, because I often repurpose them – they’re my words, so I can use them in any way I wish. However, you can’t use other people’s forum postings. They own the copyright.

Writer’s Digest Questions and Quandaries – Are E-Mails Copyrighted? reports:

“According to our legal expert, Amy Cook, original stories, poems and quotes are all copyrighted materials, whether they exist on a piece of paper or a computer screen. If you don’t get permission from the people who hold the rights, then you’re stealing their material. “