Legal Question in Business Law in New York
Copying copyrighted sites
If I copyrighted facts from a website that aren't opinion based or anything like that, such as 1 + 1 = 2, 1 + 2 = 3, etc etc would the owner have a case against me or be able to prove I copyrighted that portion of the site?
The items I want to use are facts about each state and certain requirements they have for some things and it would be easier to copy and paste from other sites but I do not want to risk being sued. If I altered it around would that protect me or is there nothing to worry about since they didn't write the facts I will be using?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Copying copyrighted sites
Not clear from your posting what exactly the information is that you plan to copy but you should know that even statistical, factual and other commonly known information may be protectable under copyright and other theories if it is organized or arranged in a certain way (think directories or databases). You may be free to obtain the same information from other sources (such as public domain or proprietary with a license) and arrange it yourself but reproducing material from someone else's site is likely to lead to liability for copyright infringement short of some very limited defenses.
This reply is in the nature of general information, is not legal advice and is not to be relied on as such.
Re: Copying copyrighted sites
There's no straight yes or no answer to your question. Much depends upon the specific information being used and the presentation. If the information is protected by copyright, changing it around isn't going to get you off the hook for infringement.
Should you like to discuss this or any other legal matter, you can call my office to schedule an appointment for a consultation or in the alternative, I can be reached for on-phone low-cost legal consultation at 1-800-275-5336 x0233699.
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