Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: Using a Quote

The legal test for "fair use" of copyrighted material generally calls for examination of:

1. the extent of the material copied (quoted);

2. the nature of the material;

3. the nature of use (commercial v. academic, political or other non-commercial); and

4. the economic effect on the copyright owner.

The application of the test is very fact-specific so without reviewing the details of your situation I cannot offer any specific advice. In academic writing there are some general guidelines on fair use (which vary from one institution to another) but they are not legally binding, though academic writers rarely commence copyright infringement cases against other scholars based on a short quote with attribution. Most importantly, if your writing is going to be used in a commercial setting (other than simply being published in a book or an article) to promote products or services, this factor may be significant enough to result in a different outcome, necessitating seeking the copyright holder's permission to reprint a portion of the work.

Please note that the above response is in nature of general information, not legal advice and is not to be relied upon as such.