Q: Does paraphrasing or summarizing the conclusions of a scientific study or paper qualify as "fair use"?
Which of these fictional examples would qualify as "fair use" when citing a scientific paper?
1. Research indicates that increasing the water flow to corn fields increases annual growth (Johnson et al., 2022).
2. A study found increasing water flow to fields by 10% increased the growth of corn by 1% per year (Johnson et al., 2022). The study utilized a control group of a field of soy beans, as well as control groups with 1% and 5% water flow. Soy bean fields grew fastest when given 5% increase of water flow, but grew slower when water was increased by 10%. The authors concluded corn fields benefit from water flow more than soy fields, and called for further research into how the mineral content in the water affects corn growth.
3. The authors wrote, "This study reveals the necessity of water flow to corn fields, and shows that corn benefits more than soy from increased flow. Further studies could be helpful to determine whether the mineral content of the water affects corn growth."
A: The fair use defense depends on a number of factors. Read 17 U.S.C. 107. There is no way to provide an opinion about your particular hypotheticals without further information, since it is fact-intensive and specific to those facts. If you want an actual legal opinion, you certainly don't want it publicly available here, but rather a confidential opinion protected by the attorney-client privilege. Good luck!
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