Copyright violation standards.

[tekisui]

The rules on copyright standards is too vague to be useful. Clarification is needed. The only guidance given is :

5.Copyrights: Do not copy-and-paste entire articles onto this discussion forum. When referencing copyrighted work, post a short excerpt (not exceeding 4 paragraphs) with a link back to the original.

The do not cop-and-paste entire articles is clear. The link back to the original article is clear.

What is not at all clear is a 'short excerpt (not exceeding 4 paragraphs)'. Some articles are only 5 paragraphs long, so almost the entire article can be pasted. Other articles are quite long, yet the format of the article separates each sentence into its own paragraph.

Is a sentence a paragraph in this case? The enforcement of the copyright standard is arbitrary and inconsistent.

I don't know the wording from the suit that DU was involved in, perhaps there is clearer language that could be used. Is the standard a word count? A percentage of the original article? Or a paragraph count in which some paragraphs are 5+ sentences long and others one sentence long?

Please help clear up the discrepancy, as edit locks tend to make posts sink. Thank you.

[EarlG]

1. We think the standard is quite clear

You are not permitted to post more than four paragraphs from a copyrighted source. It doesn't matter whether the paragraphs are one sentence long, or whether the source only contains five paragraphs. We believe that this is the simplest way for everyone to understand the standard.

[tekisui]

2. It is clear now, thanks.

Although, calling one sentence a paragraph only because of the formatting of the paper seems odd, I will adhere to the standard.