Answering this question will require a quick definition of

Answering this question will require a quick definition of "fair use" (as taken from the Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Edition). To use anyone else's copyrighted work, whether published or unpublished, an author must have the copyright owner's permission, unless the intended use is a "fair use." There are several factors which determine fair use:

1. The purpose and character of the work.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the whole.
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market value of the work.

As a general rule, one should never quote more than a few adjoining paragraphs or stanzas at a time, or let the quotations begin to overtake your own material. If you are unsure about the material you are using, you might want to do some further reading in the Chicago Manual of Style, or visit this helpful website: http://www.umi.com/hp/Support/DServices/copyrght/. While it was developed for graduate students, it provides a wealth of information about copyright compliance.

Whether permission is needed or not, you should always credit any sources used.

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Copyright does not apply to everything-it applies only to "original works of authorship" that are "fixed in any tangible medium of expression." Courts give a broad reading to these concepts. "Originality" encompasses new writings, musical works, artwork, photography, and computer programming. You may also find originality in a new arrangement of existing facts or information. For example, scientific findings or facts may not be copyrightable, but their arrangement on a table or their presentation in text is protectable. Similarly, Homer's epic poems may never have had any legal protection in their first incarnation, but a new translation is an "original" work subject to copyright law. The "tangible medium" requirement expands copyright from traditional writings and pictures into the realm of video, sound recordings, computer disks, and Internet communications. If you can see it, read it, watch it, or hear it-with or without the use of a computer, projector, or other machine-the work is likely eligible for copyright protection.

http://www.umi.com/hp/Support/DServices/copyrght/Part3.html

22. For example, a federal district court ruled in 1998 that the famous and important "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. was in the public domain, because Dr. King made a "general publication" of the work by widely distributing copies and encouraging its publication in the press, and the printed copies that he circulated at the time of the speech in 1963 lacked a copyright notice. In 1999 the court of appeals reversed that decision, finding that King's actions did not jeopardize the claim of copyright. Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc., 194 F.3d 1211 (11th Cir. 1999). The lack of a notice would not threaten the copyright protection under today's law.

23. Although registration is not required for copyright protection, the law offers incentives to registration. Later in this manual, you will see mention that a copyright owner may seek to recover "statutory damages" and attorney fees in an infringement case. Registration is also required before filing an infringement lawsuit, although that is often a procedural step that can be undertaken when needed. Do not confuse "registration" with "renewal." Registration generally occurs early in the life of the work, but renewal was a similar filing with the U.S. Copyright Office that was required under the 1909 act to extend the term of copyright protection. The significance of renewals will be described more fully with the discussion of copyright duration.

24. Like all legal rules, this one becomes more complicated with further exploration. Congress actually did not drop the notice requirement until March 1989, so a work published in, say, 1985 without a notice could, therefore, be in the public domain. Between 1978 and March 1989, however, Congress provided a statutory method to "cure" a missing or defective notice, involving registration of the work and using best efforts to place a notice on published copies. 17 U.S.C. § 405(a). Therefore, a work published during those years without a notice may or may not have copyright protection.