Wikinews:FAQ/Copyright

What is the copyright status of quotes in news articles on other servers?

What is the copyright status of quotes in news articles on other servers? I`d say, as what a person says can`t hardly be copyrighted by a news agency, unless in an exclusive interview of course, copying such quotes litterately shouldn`t be a problem, but I`m not that familiar with copyright law. Anyone here who is? -- Redge (Talk) 19:42, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

• If the original statement is made in a public forum, it is public domain. A good clue to this is when the quote is printed word-for-word in multiple, unrelated newspapers. For exclusive stories, this is different. Let's say you read a report in the New York Blade that reads the following way:

"We don't know what to do," Sam Sellers said after he and coworkers lost their Krispy Kreme jobs.

Some correct ways to use the exclusive quote and avoid copyvio:

1. (Cite the source): "We don't know what to do," former Krispy Kreme employee, Sam Sellers told the New York Blade.
2. (Paraphrase): The layoffs left some workers questioning the future.
3. (Paraphrase variation): In a New York Blade inverview, former employee Sam Sellers said workers didn't know what to do.

-- Davodd | Talk 23:40, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)