[78-L] Are we allowed to quote people in a book or article when they submit something to the group?

[Donna Halper]

On 11/22/2012 10:53 PM, Mark Bardenwerper wrote:
> On 11/22/2012 6:49 AM, ERIC BYRON wrote:
>    
>> Hi,
>>
>> If somebody(ies) e-mails the discussion group with information that we would like to include in a book or article, is it permissible to quote them using their name?  The reason I ask is that I have contacted a number of people whether I could include their statements in a book I hope to eventually finish.  Only one person has not gotten back to me. I can certainly work around his statement, but the piece would sound better if I could include him.
>>      

I generally get permission before using something, as a courtesy; I've 
even tracked people down by phone just to let them know I was gonna 
quote them.  (As I understand it, all you need to do is make a 
good-faith effort to contact the person.)  If all else fails, I was 
under the impression that anything under 250 words can be considered 
"fair use" and used without permission.  And some scholars have also 
noted that there is no expectation of privacy on the internet, since 
even e-mails to a list-serv can be posted in digest form and read by 
non-list members, thus making them quotable to the general public.