Forum:Licensing question

Hello again. I have a question about licensing. On our wiki (The Wheel of Time Wiki), we had one of our people import some of the blog posts from an author's website. The original posts are copyrighted. After speaking with the author's assistant, I created a template to place at the bottom of each page, stating that the original post is copyrighted. We've deleted the posts for now, just so that we don't break any copyright rules. Better safe than sorry. My question is this: is there any way that we can have these posts on the wiki without breaking any rules? Any replies will be appreciated. 03:02, September 29, 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, if you have permission and state it, I can't think of why you wouldn't. Cat (meow ∙ hunt) 04:33, September 29, 2012 (UTC)


 * If you are reusing content that is not from a Creative Commons source, it doesn't really matter if you place a copyright notice on the page or not because you are still reproducing someone's material. Non-CC material is under general copyright and attribution is beside the point. There are exceptions for using parts of text or images in a way that illustrates or illuminates the subject (fair use), but if you are importing whole blog posts this likely does not apply.


 * As a host for user-generated content Wikia responds to claims of copyright infringement according the notice and takedown provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This means that the person whose copyright is being infringed must inform us directly, and include certain sworn statements. If the author of the posts sent us a notice, we would likely remove the content. Uploading copyrighted material is also against our Terms of Use, so if someone repeatdely uploaded after being warned, there would be further actions.


 * However, it sounds like in this case, the author (via their assistant) is satisfied with the reuse of content as long as the copyright notice is included. This means that he would be unlikely to send us a takedown request. If you have the author's permission, then there should not be any problem with having the posts. If they have not given permission, they can send a takedown notice via Special:Contact, or to copyright@wikia.com. --semanticdrifter http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb32675/wikia/images/e/e9/WikiaStaff.png (help forum | blog) 17:43, October 1, 2012 (UTC)

Just so there isn't any confusion later, copying our author's blog posts from an off-Wikia site and adding a copyright notice is fine? I don't mean to be a pest, but we just want to make sure we're not breaking any rules. Thanks! 19:40, October 1, 2012 (UTC)


 * Sorry if my clarification wasn't very clear! I would not phrase it quite that way. Since blog posts are copyrightable material, you can only reuse them with the author's permission. If they have given permission and required a copyright notice, that is fine. If they have not given permission, then it is not fine. Adding the copyright notice is irrelevant if they have not given permission. While summarizing or even taking snippets of the posts would likely qualify as fair use, reusing them whole is likely copyright infringement which is not acceptable under Wikia's Terms of Use. --semanticdrifter http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb32675/wikia/images/e/e9/WikiaStaff.png (help forum | blog) 22:14, October 1, 2012 (UTC)