Copyright rules: Using information from other sources on your website

Remember that copyright law protects:

• Newspaper articles
• Blog posts
• Performances
• Photographs
• Poetry
• Recorded music
• Paintings
• Etc.

Rules to Live By

• Assume it’s protected by copyright
• Read the terms and conditions in any “Click to Accept” agreements 
• When in doubt, seek permission

How to post a copyrighted article

• Just citing the author/creator does not allow use of material
• “Fair use” for informational purposes allows a short excerpt – not all or most
• For articles from copyrighted outlets, quote no more than a couple sentences, then link to the article – or write a short summary of the article, then link to it

Use of Cornell Publications

• Original articles by the Cornell Chronicle, Ezra Magazine and Pawprint are considered “press releases” and are not treated the same as copyrighted material.
• This means you can post them in their entirety with attribution – both the author’s by-line and at the end “This article originally appeared in the Cornell Chronicle (link to original article)." 
• Note that the Cornell Daily Sun and the Cornell Alumni Magazine are not Cornell University publications and their articles should be treated like any other copyrighted material.

Use of A&S articles

• Original articles posted on the College of Arts & Sciences are also considered “press releases” and are not treated as copyrighted.
• This means you can post them in their entirety. As a courtesy, it is best to include the author’s by-line and the original source.