Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Re: Copyright Infringement

Yes. Newspapers are covered under copyright law and that applies to foreign papers. A copyright automatically applies on creation of original written material. Registration is needed to gain federal court jurisdiction of copyright issues. While copyright probably applies to personals and classifieds, to the extent they are original, the damages for infringement are so minimal when someone copies that enforcement costs would exceed the damages so enforcement is impractical. The usual way to avoid copyright infringement issues with newspapers is to call them and ask for permission to reproduce their copy. Most newspapers are happy to allow it provided they are given due credit.