Hi,
I am thinking of launching an 'ezine' with tips on health, finance,
relationships etc. I am thinking of using articles in regular
magazines or articles on the web to come up with these tips. I wont be
using the exact same sentences or words found in the original magazine
article but the message will be the same. I can even combine similar
articles from two different magazines and come up with a composite
summary that I will publish. Of course this information would be
widely available on the web....I am just packaging it in a convenient
way so that my readers will not have to search the web themselves. My
question is whether this would be considered plaigarism or will I be
violating any copyright laws.

Thanks for your help.

Dear John, 

Before I begin my answer, let me please refer you to the disclaimer on
the bottom of this page: " Answers and comments provided on Google
Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute
for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax,
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any opinion expressed in answers or comments."

I am saying that, because there might be a legal issue involved here,
that of copyright and if you want to be on the safest side, you might
want to discuss the issue with an lawyer.

There is a difference between copyright infringement (using someone's
work without asking for permission); and plagiarism (which is not only
using their work or ideas without asking for permission, but also
without giving them the credit, presenting it as your own and
"stealing" their ideas).

Let's start by saying that even paraphrasing someone else's work and
ideas could be considered plagiarism and violation of their site's
copyright. When "Reader's Digest" quotes another publication, or gives
tips that have already appeared elsewhere, they have to attribute the
idea/article to its author, and usually also pay royalties. This, even
if their tips paraphrase something that has appeared, and not directly
quote them.

Using ideas from several articles and creating a new one, is something
else, of course. You should mention your sources, especially if using
direct quotes, but it is already something you've created.

Short lists of tips pose a problem for those who'd claim that you're
violating their copyright or plagirising. These tips are usually
something that appears many times, in many versions:
- Facts. "[...] a fact is not an original work of authorship. Facts
owe their origin to the thing or person that makes them happen."
(SOURCE: The First Amendment Handbook Online,
<http://www.rcfp.org/handbook/c10p02.html>). However, please note that
the compilialtion of facts is an original work.
- Some are conventional wisdoms (what to do when you have a cold: take
vitamin c, drink chicken soup, rest, and so on - no one can claim that
you've "stolen" these ideas, even if they appear on the site);
- Some are just the way to do things. There is, for example, limited
number of possible versions for pizza margarita (if one's writing a
recipe), and not anyone who'd written a pizza margarita recipe can
claim that your publication of the recipe, is a violation of their
copyright; the same applies for example, for tips on how to open a
bank account, change a tire, and so on.

In addition, even with copyright protected material, there is such a
thing as "fair use". Such "fair use", which is not an infringement of
copyright, includes: "[...] such use by reproduction in copies or
phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for
purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching
(including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or
research" (Copyright Law, ? 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair
use <http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107>).

The law goes further into saying that "In determining whether the use
made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be
considered shall include &#8212;

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use
is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to
the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of
the copyrighted work." (ibid).

The "fair use" issue is sadly sometimes abused by some publishers,
making minimal changes, which would be considered paraphrasing, but
presenting it is "fair use". See for example this case:
UK NEWSPAPER SWIPES OUR CONTENT 
<http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2004/swipe/> 

Many websites have copyright policies, and you can contact them
regarding using some of their content on your site.

How to Secure Permission to Use Copyrighted Works 
<http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/permsec.htm> 

Further Reading
===============
Plagiarism Today 
<http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/> - blog on web plagiarism and how to fight it. 

CopyScape
<http://www.copyscape.com/> - after you'll have your website, you can
check here that no one steals content from you.

I hope this answers your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer beforey you rate it. My search terms
were: "content from" website copyright plagiarism;  "used content"
website copyright plagiarism , "used content" copyright plagiarism ,
"used content from the site"

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Request for Answer Clarification by johnman-ga on 07 Dec 2005 15:28 PST

Thanks for the answer. To illustrate: let us say I am writing a piece
on 'saving for college education' and I use material from 'Money'
magazine, 'Forbes' and 'Smart Money' magazines along with additional
research done from the internet, would there be any issues of
plaigarism?

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Clarification of Answer by politicalguru-ga on 08 Dec 2005 02:10 PST

If you are combining and summarising several sources, it wouldn't be
plagiarism. If you just write :
"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" (what Forbes said; what Money said and
what the WSJ said) without combining the advices, without some
integration of the different advices and without attribution to the
sources, this is plagiarism and copyright violation.

But again, if you write something like: "Most sources tell parents to
open a college fund when the baby is born; source I also advices to
[...]. In addition, source II claims that [...]". A list of the
sources at the end of the article (or hyperlinking in it) would be
superb.

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Request for Answer Clarification by johnman-ga on 08 Dec 2005 07:00 PST

Got it.....thanks a lot.

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Clarification of Answer by politicalguru-ga on 08 Dec 2005 09:04 PST

Thank you for the rating and good luck with your site.