Hey, I was wondering if it was legal to quote/excerpt a news article ie cnn.com or ap.org in your blog if you state that they are the source and use that inside your own article? Also if it is legal what is the format. and secondly, what type of lawyer would i use to write up a contract for my web design company i'm starting? thanks -Kevin
Yes, you can quote a news article if you're citing the source and leaving your own commentary (doesn't mean you can quote the entire thing obviously). Look for a lawyer specializing in transactional law to have a contract drawn up. I'm sure you'll find plenty focusing specifically on contracts.
thanks for the quick reply, do you have a default or general format for quoting and citing sources? ie would i put the source as a NAME with the name linked to the site or the full url to the article thanks
Blogging's generally pretty casual, so you could cite a source however you want to, even in a conversational tone. You don't need to get overly formal about it. If you're keeping your blog to certain standards, like AP style, Chicago style, etc. then you'd want to follow those specific rules, which vary.
You might find this legal guide for bloggers from the Electronic Frontier Foundation helpful: http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/
I don't think it is illegal if you post brief about the news with their link & so far you keep it for fare use, however it is precise to check their TOS.