Book using information I wrote in forum posts?

Inmydreams

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I am in the process of writing a book based on my experiences. However, I have already written some of this information on a forum.

I do not intend on copying and pasting the actual posts. In fact there is a lot of information that was not included in the posts, which were brief. I do not intend to write my book using the exact same wording but the basic information is the same.

Would this be a copyright infringement?

I don't see how it could be since it was my words, my story and I am rewriting, expanding and adding further information, but I want to make sure I'm not crossing a line somewhere.

I looked at the copyright information for the board I was posting to which states: No portion of this site may be used without express written consent ...

I am not actually using a portion of that site, except my experiences which I plan to reword, but I'm worried I may have shot myself in the foot by posting to that board.

Thoughts?
 

Maggie Maxwell

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Pretty sure you can give yourself your express consent. :) And besides, if 1) you're not copy/pasting and 2) they're your posts anyway, you're probably fine, but IANAL. Someone else may have better info, but I'm fairly certain you'd be just fine.
 

Katherine_James

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You should be fine. Re-write the posts, so that you are not copying word for word from your forum posts.

Also, at the end of your book, you could include your forum handle. And let the reader know that they can join you in discussion on this forum.
 

Siri Kirpal

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If you're not cutting and pasting, you're fine. And if you happen to use one or two sentences that happen to be the same as on the forum, you're still fine, because there's such a thing as Fair Use: short passages aren't subject to copyright, unless they're song lyrics.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

cornflake

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I am in the process of writing a book based on my experiences. However, I have already written some of this information on a forum.

I do not intend on copying and pasting the actual posts. In fact there is a lot of information that was not included in the posts, which were brief. I do not intend to write my book using the exact same wording but the basic information is the same.

Would this be a copyright infringement?

I don't see how it could be since it was my words, my story and I am rewriting, expanding and adding further information, but I want to make sure I'm not crossing a line somewhere.

I looked at the copyright information for the board I was posting to which states: No portion of this site may be used without express written consent ...

I am not actually using a portion of that site, except my experiences which I plan to reword, but I'm worried I may have shot myself in the foot by posting to that board.

Thoughts?

This does depend - yes, some boards retain copyright to what's posted on their boards.
 

Inmydreams

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Thank you all. I was feeling pretty confident until I saw Cornflake's post.

@ Cornflake: I understand I cannot use the exact wording of my posts to that forum, but are you saying that I cannot reword the experiences I posted? This seems like a long stretch of their rights, but if I knew for sure I would not have posted this question. Now you have me worried.
 

Wilde_at_heart

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Have you asked the admin for that board at all?

I'm not sure what the copyright laws are, but posters cannot demand their accounts be deleted and everything they ever posted be removed if the admin decides its either too much work or doesn't want to. Which to me implies it belongs to them. All I know is that it's not good form to re-post anyone else's posts anywhere else. So while I can't see you having any issue if you're only using your own posts, it couldn't hurt to ask.
 
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MacAllister

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Inmydreams, you're not talking about AW, right? If you're comfortable doing so, I might have better information for you if you PM me a link to the forum in question. I'll keep the information confidential, of course.
 

Inmydreams

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Inmydreams, you're not talking about AW, right? If you're comfortable doing so, I might have better information for you if you PM me a link to the forum in question. I'll keep the information confidential, of course.



No, I am not talking about AW.

Thank you, I will PM you.
 

Inmydreams

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For anyone who is interested I found out through a copyright attorney, on line, that I am allowed to rewrite my story as long as l do not copy the original posts.

According to him, the forum may own a copyright on my posts but not the underlying facts.

So, I will continue with my WIP. Whew, what a relief.
 
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kimcooper

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Talk to another attorney. Even if you accidentally agreed to an overly-eager TOC when signing up for a forum, they really don't have the right to your material posted on such a site.
 

Jamesaritchie

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First, check with the forum admin or owner. I've yet to have one say no, even to copy and paste, as long as you only copy and paste your own words.

I've sold three articles that all started out as forum posts, and they were pretty much copy and paste, with just an editing pass to make everything flow.

But the easy solution is always to ask whoever is in charge.
 

Inmydreams

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@ KimCooper: Thanks. I think we are saying the same thing.

@ Jamesaritchie: Thanks for the advice. I will do just that.