Book review/summaries = plagiarism ?

[Graves]

I know this is counterintuitive since a review/summary encourages people to purchase the book, but please bear with me.

Say I give a long review of The Millionaire Fastlane for instance, and tell people the most important concepts I learned from it, then put it on my site which has advertisements on it (=I'm making money off The Millionaire Fastlane ) then shouldn't that be considered copyright infringement ?
What if I actually sell 'Review/Summary of The Millionaire Fastlane ' for $2 ?

Posting on a blog with advertisments looks legal
Selling directly looks illegal.

However, in a legal sense it should be exactly the same.

Help ? :smxE:

 

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[Nicola]

Both are copyright infringement - they are both considered "creating a derivative work"

You may create a review - but just that, a review, you may only quote a small part as fair use.

If your long review in effect creates a condensed version - or derivative work, then that is copyright infringement and MJs lawyers will be in touch.

Exactly how much you could give away before your review turns into a derivative work would be up to the judge and/or jury in the very expensive court case.

My advice - just don't go there! No one will win - except the lawyers.

*** Disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, not do I play one on TV. My only familiarity with the Law is in trying not to break it. Please remember to consult a licensed professional before, well anything really. Have a nice day. ***

 

[Graves]

Exactly how much you could give away before your review turns into a derivative work would be up to the judge and/or jury in the very expensive court case.

Yeah, that confuses me because there are articles on the internet which explain books so well you don't need to read them anymore .I made this topic after searching for marketing articles, and most reviews of Cialdini's Persuasion and Influence are way too detailed.
Same thing goes for most best-selling books, so it's weird.

 

[Aristy]

I don't that think a book review/summary would be considered plagiarism, if it were, then how would series like cliff's notes and sparks notes do such large business?

As a matter of fact, this site's business ( PhilosophersNotes ) is based 100% on book reviews.

Just my two cents

 

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[ChrisRempel]

The vagueness of IP law in general (including Fair Use) is what's known as a "lawyer's wet dream".

Because it's all subjective.

And subjective law = settlements.

Settlements = dirty business and scum lawyers.

So watch out, because some companies DO add a significant portion of revenue to their bottom-line via settlements.

So there's two questions...

1) If I'm honest with myself - is my usage of a certain thing really "fair"? And fair to whom? And am I basically exploiting someone else's brand for income?

AND

2) Is my potential "infringement victim" capable of flexing legal muscle?

If you answered YES or Somewhat to both questions... just don't even bother. Not worth it.

And, of course, this is definitely not legal advice, and I'm about as far from being a lawyer as it gets.

Hope that helps

-Chris

 

[Nicola]

Cliffs notes etc are about books that are "classics" they are usually old enough to be out of copyright - they are also considered to be companions to the original work.

Philosophers notes works because the books are already bestsellers - and they have the authors/publishers permission and pay a licensing fee.

If you want to try it then you might get lucky - you could fly under the radar or get a simple take down notice. But you could get unlucky and get a lawsuit.

Just because you saw someone break the speed limit and not get caught doesn't mean that either a) the speed limit doesn't exist or that b) you won't get caught.

Doing your due diligence to check that this is OK does not include coming onto this forum and saying that you think it should be.

 

[Aristy]

Nicola may have hit the nail on the head!

Now that I think better about it, she is right, I've also noticed that all of cliff's notes are based on public-domain books, so therefore no one claims copyright on them. Clever!

So, Akitoes, maybe the answer is to simply contact those publishers and see if you can get permission/pay a licensing fee. Who knows, it may not be that much to pay, and you'd be in the clear.

Of course, as others have disclaimed before: I'm not a lawyer, and nothing that I've written should be construed as giving legal advice or otherwise.

Good luck!

 

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[wade1mil]

As I am not habitual of reading books normally hence usually preferred reading book chapter summaries to know about it.

How confusing are sentences within posts you've contributed for everybody. :coco:

 

[KingAlex]

Hey there! I want to enroll this topic again in the year 2017 due to my findings on Amazon.co.uk

In my understandings it is possible with the permission of the author to publish and sell a summary.
Otherwise the summary requires a high enough Treshold of originality to not be a legal issue (very subjective as mentioned before).

Just because you saw someone break the speed limit and not get caught doesn't mean that either a) the speed limit doesn't exist or that b) you won't get caught.

I like this idea and metaphora. I have three questions about that (2017 version)

1.) Do you think the guys on Amazon (see figure) are breaking the speed limit? (non intentional advertisment btw)

2.) If so, whats about the unlimited book summaries available on YouTube, which are sometimes so detailled, that this would be a true plagiarism!?


3.) If YouTube summaries are legal, would it be illegal to sum the videos sell those videos? How is the law area called, which investigates such topics?


Thank you very much for responding and best regards
Alex

 

[MJ DeMarco]

In my understandings it is possible with the permission of the author to publish and sell a summary.

Yes, it's called a license.

For instance, you cannot take TMF and translate it to Spanish, and then sell it.

Same goes for summaries. Just because you see them, doesn't mean they're legal, or they have the permission.

I go after all people who try to make a buck off selling summaries of my intellectual property.

I even had one guy complain to me after I went after him for copyright infringement. He had the balls to claim I was hurting his sales. His sales!

 

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[Deleted50669]

Yes, it's called a license.

For instance, you cannot take TMF and translate it to Spanish, and then sell it.

Same goes for summaries. Just because you see them, doesn't mean they're legal, or they have the permission.

I go after all people who try to make a buck off selling summaries of my intellectual property.

I even had one guy complain to me after I went after him for copyright infringement. He had the balls to claim I was hurting his sales. His sales!

Hmm, business to actively scan for attempted plagiarism? Author pays subscription fee, we scan daily for any suspicious content across publishing platforms. Thoughts?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Hmm, business to actively scan for attempted plagiarism? Author pays subscription fee, we scan daily for any suspicious content across publishing platforms. Thoughts?

Good idea, so much so I think it already exists in multiple offerings.

 

[Deleted50669]

Good idea, so much so I think it already exists in multiple offerings.

Meh, I'm always late

 

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[KingAlex]

Good idea, so much so I think it already exists in multiple offerings.

Is it also international? For example, are you aware of the summary of your book in Germany?

Does the guy have a licence? For how much are you giving out a licence (if you give it at all, or do you have other examples from author friends?)

Hmm, business to actively scan for attempted plagiarism? Author pays subscription fee, we scan daily for any suspicious content across publishing platforms. Thoughts?

Nice idea! Do you know, how much is it to buy investigations to such topics? Ideally, it has to take place on a regular bases, right!? So there could be somehow an automatic crawling program (e.g. python based, checking big book sellers in every country, start to code! )

These copyright things are really hard to see through. Thanks for your help so far!

Cheers
Alex

 

[Kimmy XD]

From what I learned in my English 101 and 235 class, plagiarism has several rules and standards. Directly copying a phrase from the original source is plagiarism. Not citing the source is plagiarism. Not referencing the source is plagiarism. Not paraphrasing correctly is plagiarism. Definitely creating a full summary of a work is plagiarism without consent from the original creator.

Conventional wisdom is old and I think it does not have to be followed word for word. Being by the book is such a pagan act for me. Hence, in the online world, definitely credit (appropriately) the original maker via a link to his/her website; This would suffice. You don't have to follow in-text citations and all those whatnots. But then again, abide by the law in your jurisdiction too.

You can promote and tell a little bit about the product. For example, you recommend the book and let them know why you recommend it. Tell them that it made you think outside of the box, it's an eye-opener because of the wisdom MJ provides, etc. Do not bullet-point the important information he discussed because those were his ideas that prompted the creation of the book itself. Does that make sense?