A quote is an exact reproduction of someone’s words (in spoken language) or verbatim copying from a text (in writing) necessary to support certain arguments. It is a verbatim reproduction from any text or spoken language. At the same time, it is important that the quoted (inserted) text, if we are talking about a written citation, is clearly identified as inserted, that is, properly formatted.
Citation – literally means a reference to a source that has been published before. This is an important process, which is always accompanied by bibliographic references indicating the page of the quoted passage, which allows you to later display the source of the citation in the list of references or in another form acceptable for citation. Citations are one way to prove to readers that some material in your creative work has been reproduced from another source. Which, in turn, enables readers to then use this primary source to obtain more complete and extended information about the author of the primary source, the content and title of the document, the name and address of the company that published such a document, the date of publication, and the number of pages of the material.
Verbatim citation is used to convey the author’s opinion without distortions. Provided that the boundaries of the quotation and references to the source of the quotation are drawn up, this type of indication is not considered plagiarism. After all, the copyright for the content of the quote belongs to the author of the quote, so the person who publishes such reproductions is not responsible for its content, but must follow all the rules of citation without exception in order to legally carry out such activity. After all, the link to the original source is also useful for the following reasons:
– citation will be quite useful for everyone who wants to find more information related to your ideas and the sources of their manifestation;
– not all sources are good and true – own ideas, conclusions can often be more accurate or interesting than those indicated in the original source, and accurate citation will protect you from complaints about the author’s false ideas;
– citation of sources will reflect the scope of conducted research;
– citation will anchor the published work through external support of the ideas.
Fair use of works
Copyright protects not only the property rights of the author, but also the right to access the achievements of science, literature and art. However, there are cases that in Anglo-Saxon law are called “fair use”, and in national legislation – free use of a work without obtaining the consent of the author and payment of royalties. However, such cases of use of works require the mandatory indication of the author’s name and the source of borrowing. Such exceptions were invented to indicate the secondary role of such use, as well as to characterize the intended purpose of using excerpts of the author’s work.
However, it is allowed to reproduce excerpts from songs, scenes from performances, frames from movies to reinforce informational and/or review-critical material with a quote. In the press, it can be a newspaper or magazine article about books or other novelties, a review of the work of this or that author. The volume of cited material does not have specific limitations (for example, as a percentage of the total volume of cited material). For example, in a program about a film festival, you can show excerpts from any films that participated in this festival, and this will not be a violation.
Regarding the free use of the work with the indication of the author’s name (including citation)
As defined in Art. 21 of the Law, without the consent of the author (or another person who holds the copyright), but with the mandatory indication of the author’s name and the source of borrowing, is allowed in the following cases:
1) the use of quotations (short excerpts) from published works in the amount justified by the purpose, including quoting articles from newspapers and magazines in the form of press reviews, if it is determined by the critical, polemical, scientific or informative nature of the work to which the citations are included; free use of quotations in the form of short excerpts from performances and works included in the phonogram (videogram) or broadcast program;
2) use of literary and artistic works to the extent justified by the purpose, as illustrations in publications, broadcasts, sound recordings or video recordings of an educational nature;
3) reproduction in the press, public performance or public notification of articles previously published in newspapers or magazines on current economic, political, religious and social issues or publicly notified works of the same nature in cases where the right to such reproduction, public notification or other public the message is not specifically prohibited by the author;
4) reproduction for the purpose of covering current events by means of photography or cinematography, public notification or other public communication of works seen or heard during the course of such events, to the extent justified by the informational purpose;
5) reproduction in catalogs of works exhibited at publicly accessible exhibitions, auctions, fairs or in collections;
6) publication of published works in embossed dot font or the blind;
7) reproduction of works for judicial and administrative proceedings to the extent justified by this purpose;
8) public performance of musical works during official and religious ceremonies, as well as funerals to the extent justified by the nature of such ceremonies;
9) reproduction for information purposes in newspapers and other periodicals, broadcasting or other public notification of publicly delivered speeches, addresses, reports and other similar works in the amount justified by the stated purpose;
10) reproduction of the work for the purposes and under the conditions provided for in Articles 22-25 of this Law. This list of free uses of works is exhaustive.
The concept of citation quota of author’s works is an exclusively subjective category. After all, the use of even one or two seconds from someone else’s film is possible without payment of copyright, under the conditions of lawful use in the form of a quote.
First of all, it should be understood that quoting is not copying (reproduction). For copying, the legislator uses the term reproduction. Citation is different from ordinary copying, and each of us can immediately intuitively understand the essential difference. But in general, the differences are that when copying takes place, in essence, someone else’s work is used as part of one’s own, one’s own goals are achieved at the expense of someone else’s work, gaps in one’s own work are filled at the expense of someone else’s; when quoting, we draw attention first of all to the quoted passage from someone else’s work, emphasizing it, drawing the attention of the reader (viewer, listener, etc.) to it, without creating the impression that it is entirely your work. And of course, in addition to the specified differences, the Law emphasizes the goals, scope and purpose of citation, since citation must be within reasonable limits, without passing from the category of citation to the category of copying and illegal use of someone else’s copyright object (even its part, fragment ). Therefore, the use of other people’s works in one’s own presentations or for scientific demonstrations is no longer citation, but the illegal use of parts of other people’s copyright objects. Therefore, use must be to the extent and scope justified by the purposes of such citation.
If we are talking about actions that encroach on the integrity of the work and violate the author’s right to the inviolability of the work, and may harm the author’s honor, dignity, and business reputation, then in some cases such actions may lead to a violation of the author’s property rights.
It should be especially emphasized that the use of a part of a work (lines, measures, fragments of a picture, etc.) without reference to the author in another work is recognized as plagiarism, regardless of whether the term of protection for such a work has expired. After all, copyright is protected indefinitely. The right to protect the work from any distortion or other encroachment that may harm the honor and dignity of the author is also protected indefinitely. For example, undeniable distortions, adding obscene language to the text, making changes to the melody, changing the color scheme of paintings, performance techniques, etc.
Rules for correct citation:
1) Video fragments from other films, as components of a new film, must be accompanied by subtitles either at the end of the film or during the screening, or with subtitles on the screen (it all depends on technical capabilities and the presentation of the work itself). With a mandatory indication of the name of the borrowed film and the name of the director;
2) The text of the quotation, if it is written, must be displayed in quotation marks and given in the grammatical form in which it is indicated in the source, preserving the features of the author’s writing;
3) The citation must be complete, without arbitrarily shortening the text. Sometimes, in order to prevent an excessively large amount of verbal text, an omission in the quotation is allowed, but at the same time, the main idea, the content of the text should not be changed. This omission of text is made with three dots, which can be placed anywhere in the quote (at the beginning, in the middle or at the end);
4) Citation should be neither exaggerated nor insufficient, as excessive citation creates the impression of complicity of the work, and insufficient citation reduces its scientific value;
5) In any use of a quotation: at the beginning of the statement, in the text, at the end of the quotation, it is necessary to observe the rights of design of the quotation and its selection with grammatical signs or another color in the text to confirm the degree of borrowing;
6) A hidden quote is transmitted in one’s own words, but with the obligatory indication of the source of borrowing.
Thus, quotations do not require additional documentary confirmation (in the form of license agreements or contracts) and are drawn up in accordance with the norms of current legislation. But if you need to investigate the correctness of citation in your project, contact our company for legal assistance.
