Is citing WP illegal?

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I'd like to know if siting WP as an autism cite is illegal b/c I'm writing a letter to my college b/c they sent me autism speaks fundraiser emails... (it might take me awhile to finish though b/c I'm writing a letter (gonna aim for just a page or 2 so its not make it crazy plus sources/places to reference good vs. bad)). Also, I once saw something where autism speaks compared how a person w/ asperger's will function in comparison to someone w/ PDDNOS (I was offended by what they said about PDDNOS...), but it was awhile ago & I can't find it anymore . Anyone here ever check out autism speaks to check what crap they're spewing & know how to find the "capabilities" of aspies/auties on their site?

Last edited by Peko on 30 Jan 2010, 4:22 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Do you mean "citing?"

Yes I meant "citing"

As long as you do not profit as a result of using materials on WP, nearly everything on this site is fair-game.

~CGKings317

I'm sure it is legal, even in Canada, despite our HRCs and section 13......The only place it might be illegal would be China or North Korea or Iran.

She meant citing, site, and their.

Sorry, I usually ignore misspelled homonyms, but if you correct one and not all of them, it implies the others are correct.

BTW, (@Peko) I enjoy reading your posts, and I think what you are doing is very commendable.

If you're talking about if it'd be illegal because of copyright, then it makes no sense because breaching someone's copyright is a civil matter anyway, meaning it's never illegal unless you're mass redistributing and/or profiting from it, and you'll only be fined or punished in any way if the owner of the copyrighted material takes legal action against you.

/end online lawyer session... That'll be £500 please

I agree, that's why libraries let US put (C) books in copying machines!

Man, my grammar sucks (especially when I am not paying attention to it when I'm pissed off)

All I was planning to cite about WP is the site itself & the autism reality documentary link.

Citation is the practice of identifying the source from which material is drawn as a reference. Generally speaking, unless a person has expressly reserved their copyright, you are free to reproduce their work, and use the citation to demonstrate credit for ownership and creation of the work. This is what is know as the "fair use" doctrine. Its actual application varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction because of the vagaries of local law, but will generally protect this sort of quotation and citation.

Where permission to reproduce original work is withheld, fair use may still excuse the conduct of quoting and citing the work, though potentially in more restrictive circumstances.

The added issue is, of course, that the relevant jurisdiction may, in some cases, be the place where your post is read, rather than the place where you posted. So if you are posting from the United States, citing a Canadian author, and the post is read in England or Wales, that might be sufficient to give rise to causes of action in all three jurisdictions.

Guess that means I should avoid listing the "National Autistic Society" of the UK as a good resource? (Was not going to quote, just list them as a reference for autism related stuff).

Linking to somewhere is fine.

Not sure what British fair use laws are, but last time I checked, you had to ask permission before they're valid. Copyright laws are stupid in the UK.

Either way, linking to page won't break copyright, because all you're "copying" by doing that is their name and URL, and unless you're using their registered trademark for your own business, it's fine.

Credit is essential, because most of what people say here is their own opinions, and it's generally a bad idea to cite a source without giving credit to said source, for intellectual material.

Remember kiddies, cite the site you sight.