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6 Nov 2000, Singapore

Dear Dr. Ecommerce,

I'm from Singapore. I'm planning to write a series of articles for some web-sites on the Internet. Can you please enlighten me on the following questions on copyrights?

(1) If in my articles I make references to some ideas contained in some books or articles written by someone else, will it be sufficient for me to mention the writer and/or source of reference? Do I need to write to the author for prior permission to quote him/her ?

(2) If I would like to reproduce a diagram from another person's work,is it expected that I seek permission in writing before doing so?

(3) Can you please recommend some books or articles explaining
international copyright laws so that aspiring writers like me can steer clear of legal complications ?

Thanks in advance

William.

Dear William:

International copyright law allows you to quote short excerpts of copyrighted material for the purposes of review. So, you can take excerpts from published material or summarise published material if you give credit to the original source. It's also good manners to provide a link to the source if the source is also on-line.

Copying a diagram from someone else's work is generally not acceptable. However, if you were to completely redo the diagram yourself and in such a way that it is clearly a new diagram and not the original diagram, you would be okay.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO: http://www.wipo.org) has a lot of information on copyright and other intellectual property rights issues. In addition, many books for writers will have information about copyright (including protecting your own copyright!).

Good luck,

Dr. Ecommerce