Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Re: Using Quotes on Commercial Website

You should not use the quotes without permission, for several reasons.

First of all, the materials are probably copyrighted and it is very questionable whether your use, as you have briefly described it, qualifies as "fair use" under copyright law. As a result, you would probably be infringing the author's copyright.

Second, depending on your use, the author may have a claim against you under a theory of "false implied endorsement." In other words, your use may be viewed (falsely) as an endorsement of you by the author.

Finally, the author may have a claim against use under a "right of publicity" theory which gives a person the exclusive right to the commercial benefit of his identity.

Do yourself a favor: get permission from the author if you intend to use a quote.

Re: Using Quotes on Commercial Website

The Copyright Office web site summarizes the law in this area by stating, "Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances."

"If you use a copyrighted work without authorization, the owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you. There are circumstances under the fair use doctrine where a quote or a sample may be used without permission. However, in cases of doubt, the Copyright Office recommends that permission be obtained."

See HTTP://WWW.COPYRIGHT.GOV/FLS/FL102.HTML for more information. For me to give you a more detailed analysis I would have to review your web sites in view of the four factors noted in the above Copyright Office web site and review the applicable case law.

THE ABOVE ADVICE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED TO CREATE AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING ANY MATERIAL PRESENTED HEREIN, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU CONSULT AN ATTORNEY. THIS INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED BY AN ATTORNEY IN ACTIVE PRACTICE IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS AND CURRENTLY HOLDS AN ACTIVE LAW LICENSE IN THAT STATE ONLY.