Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey
Would it be a violation of copyright or intellectual property laws to write a sports book that incorporates information learned from foreign books and dvds created for the same sport? For example, the book would detail Chinese ways of performing a particular set gymnastics moves that the author learned from studying various foreign source material. Would a citation be needed? It is my understanding that "ideas and processes" cannot be copyrighted, and it seems that a sports technique would fall under that category.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You are correct that a copyright protects only the expression of an idea and not the idea itself. Assuming that there is no other protection (and none would seem to apply), you can discuss and comment on the ideas in your writing. You can even quote briefly from the works of others, but should cite appropriately. If you need to use long portions of a copyrighted work, you will need to get the permission of the copyright holder.
See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm
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