Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Missouri

Copyrights on contracts and legal documents

I have access to contracts and legal documents on the Internet (they do not claim to be public domain) that I would like to slightly reword and use on my web site. Is this legal? I would not be selling the documents. What about copying privacy statements? Also, if it does violate copyright law, can small sections of the contracts be copied?


Asked on 9/01/04, 10:13 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Amy Ghosh Law Offices of Amy Ghosh

Re: Copyrights on contracts and legal documents

Why don't you pay some attorney little bit of money..and tell him to draft the contracts you need to be posted at your site.

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Answered on 9/02/04, 4:13 am
Bruce Burdick Burdick Law Firm

Re: Copyrights on contracts and legal documents

Contracts can be copyrighted, that is the specific phrasing, although the legal principles involved cannot be copyrighted, so the protection is very narrow. Slight changes are usually enough. In additon, most contracts, even though automatically copyrighted, are seldom the subject of copyright registration. The exception is where they appear in a collection of forms, and then if you by the forms you are given an implied license to use the forms and modify them as you desire.

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Answered on 9/01/04, 12:31 pm


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