man please don't over react there are several ways to save any article you might want to read later. save the article to your favorites or drop the article in an email. if your on aol. you click the little red heart and place it wherever you want.

all that was being said about you posting an article is be careful not to post something that is copy written.

Mike, no confusion necessary. Just copy/paste the web page that contains the news article and attach it to your blog post. No problems.

http://www.lotterypost.com/blogcomments.asp?i=12649&b=p

Keep on postin' dude!

Mike - No reason to be confused and no reason to stop. The main reason you should credit an article is because of copyright laws. Another reason is because an intelligent reader will always consider the source. The source is very very important. Articles can be written on a slant for propaganda and certain writters and sites tend to slant a certain way in their opinions. So the source and date is very important.

Example: just the other day an article was posted in a thread about odds of "beating the lottery" but the date was not credited. Those folks that hadn't read the article before may have contrued that it was a recent article when actually it was dated.   

Same thing with any other media - especially documentaries on TV. Special interest groups very often slant their opinions.

I don't want to rub it in - but I only told you a zillion times and the last few times exercising all of the diplomacy I can muster.

Mike:
Provided you credit the original author and cite the source of your information, and provided you don't embellish any part the original text, you won't violate any copyright laws. If you want to quote part of an article or document, use an ellipsis (...) to indicate that additional text either precedes or follows the quoted passage. You still must credit the original author and source, and you should also cite the date the original article appeared. For example:

[From an article written by Todd Northrop in the April 27, 2006 issue of LotteryPost Magazine:
   "... It's really the members who make the forum what it is. I added the blogs a couple of years ago in order to provide those members who want one an open venue for the discussion of current events, political issues or any other subject which is not lottery-related.
   "Anyone with internet access is welcome to join; there is no charge for basic membership ..."]
(The above example is not an actual quote from Todd)

I don't know where this came from, or how you've reached the conclusions you have, but someone has given you some bad information. I've been a technical writer for nearly fifteen years now, so I'm very familiar with such issues. Since I'm not an attorney, this should NOT be construed as legal advice. However, you can verify my statements free of charge by calling a local copyright or patent attorney (listed under those headings in the Yellow Pages). If he asks for an "initial consultation fee," call the next one on the list, as any attorney worth his salt won't charge you for answering this question. You can also look it up on the web (Google: United States Code, Title 17).

If you were writing for a newspaper or magazine, or any other entity which stands to profit from the re-publication of a document, then, and only then, you would need to secure written permission from the original publisher, author or both. First North American Serial Rights protect the original author's intellectual property unless and until he sells those rights or otherwise assigns them to someone else. In the case of a newspaper or magazine article, those rights are normally claimed and secured by the author's employer.

Proprietary images such as copyrighted pictures, video clips and the like cannot be re-published without express written permission from whomever holds the copyright but, once again, that permission is easily obtainable, provided you're not looking to turn a buck with his work. You'll see what I mean when you read Title 17.

Keep 'em coming. As long as you don't begin charging us to access your blog, we'll continue to enjoy reading it, and you can keep giving us something to think about besides the STUPID, HOPELESSLY CORRUPT HOOSIER LOTTERY, AND THE ... uh ... sorry ... old habits. I meant to say numbers; give us something to think about besides numbers.

Geez - I need a vacation.

Mike:
I just read your previous entry, and Todd's concerns are certainly valid. I'm sure he didn't tell you that you couldn't continue to post those news articles, but if you fail to properly credit the author and publisher, Todd could get into serious trouble. As the owner of LP.com, he is ultimately responsible for its content. An effective argument could be made that all he did was to host the offending member's blog page but, as I mentioned, any penalties imposed would fall squarely on his shoulders.

Contrary to the opinions of some other members, you have no obligation to cite the date of publication, but I agree that it's a good idea to do so. Since titles can't be copyrighted, there's always a slim but very real chance that the article you've referenced could be confused with another, unrelated article released by a different publisher under an identical title, but written by another author. By citing the date along with the required credits, any possibility of confusion on the part of your readers is eliminated.

thanks everyone.thanks for the advice.