Freelance Writers and Fair Use

Most freelance writers understand, at least in a general way, they can’t copy the work of others. In the U.S., when we write, we have an automatic copyright on the material. Which means others can’t use our words without our permission.

Less clear is the concept of Fair Use. I’ll admit to being foggy about it myself from time-to-time.

I was poking around some blogs and found BlogCruiser which seems to cover a lovely variety of topics.

There, in an entry about Bloggers and the law was a reference to the Electronic Freedom Foundation. I’ve known about them for years, but hadn’t thought to look there for clarity around fair use.

Looks good to me. Plus there’s all sorts of other info their applicable to writers. I’m planning on spending some serious time there – you may want to do the same thing.