I know this guy who has been “lifting” news from a few websites, and then rewriting it JUST a little, and then not giving any credit at all for where he gets it from.
Does one not need to give some sort of credit when they do nothing to get the news other than reading it somewhere else?
What are the journalistic guidlines for something like this, either legally or just in terms of having respect?
You can rewrite it and publish it, so long as you completely re-write it. It’s also good form to use information from multiple sources and attribute them. The information itself is not private, but the writing is copyrighted. Imagine the horror if a media conglomerate could uncover a scandal, copyright it, and (for the right price?) keep it buried by preventing others from writing about it!
Compare your evening news to your morning paper for a few weeks.
*I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lochevsky.
In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics:
Plagiarize!
Plagiarize,
Let no one else’s work evade your eyes,
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes,
So don’t shade your eyes,
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize -
Only be sure always to call it please ‘research’. *
To the OP’s question: Yes. In fact, that’s how sites like www.Plastic.com and to a lesser extent, www.kuro5hin.org thrive.
The facts in a news story are free for anyone to use. The actual expression is protected by copyright law.
However, there are some complicating factors. One is the “hot news exception” as set forth by the Supreme Court in 1918 in International News Service v. Associated Press, 248 U.S. 215 (1918).
There are also some states (such as the European Union), which recognise database rights or “sweat of the brow” rights. These are currently not protected under American Law.
Having worked as a journalist a large part of my life, though not under US copyright laws, I can say that standard practise here is that if two news sources have the story, then it’s ok to re-write, without giving credit. If it’s an exclusive, say like Woodward and Bernstein during Watergate, one had better give credit or big trouble comes knocking on your door.
Mind you, that’s re-writing, not copy+paste.