Q: Would written summaries of published research articles, in which the journal owns the copyright, fall under fair use?
I am trying to determine the paramaters of copyright infringement and fair use when it comes to published research, but have found surprisingly little information online. I know facts are generally considered fair use, but does that still apply when most research articles exist behind a paywall and are owned by the publisher? What if the summaries are sold as educational commercial products? If there is a publicly available abstract of the research, already giving away the key points of the article, does that change any copright considerations? Would adding criticism, commentary, or insight to each summary make the work transformative? Thank you for your insight and expertise.
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A:
Determining whether written summaries of published research articles fall under fair use can be complex, especially when dealing with content owned by a journal. Fair use generally considers factors like the purpose of use, the nature of the work, the amount of the original used, and the effect on the market value of the original. While facts themselves aren't protected by copyright, the way those facts are presented in a research article can be.
If you're summarizing the research, adding commentary, or offering criticism, this might be considered transformative use, which could support a fair use claim. However, if these summaries are sold as educational commercial products, that commercial aspect could weigh against fair use, especially if it competes with the original publisher's market.
Even if the abstract is publicly available, copyright considerations could still apply to the full article. Transformative elements, like your own analysis or critique, would strengthen a fair use argument, but it’s important to carefully assess how much of the original work you use and in what context.
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