A colleague wishes to quote postings from an internet discussion group in a forthcoming law review article. Is there any potential liability for infringement?
Internet postings are unpublished under current law, though proposed changes to copyright law would change this. Further, depending upon where these discussions took place, some areas of the Internet are more or less public and would further add to the character of the postings. It is not easy, therefore, to characterize them without more information. As a general rule, however, it is better to seek permission to publish anything other than short quotations for comment and criticism. The more one borrows, the less firmly one should stand on fair use.
