Copyright question

[LuciusVorenus]

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Ok. Weird question, maybe.

I had a lot of time to study for the MCAT (two full years), so I ended up using a lot of different books (BR, PR, EK, etc.). I ended up making a compilation of notes for easier review. It's typed up and separated by sections. I think it's around 150 pages, so it's pretty much just distilled facts.

I feel bad just kind of throwing this away, especially when I put so much time into making it pretty and grammatically correct to satisfy my OCD concerns. So I was wondering if posting my notes to SDN is a violation of the copyrights of the books. I mean, technically I paraphrased everything, included no sample questions, and mixed and matched a lot (although with BR being the heaviest in content a lot is taken from that book).

So, is it ok because they're just facts you could get from any science book, or is the organization of those facts into separate chapters copyrighted? I ask because of the whole copyright fiasco over the spreadsheet a year or so back...

 

[maybemed2013]

I do not think so... I watched a khanacademy video and he was playing a movie clip and I remember him saying that it was okay for him to play the movie clip since it was for educational uses.....as long as you are not trying to sell your notes I think it okay.

 

[Cambino]

All of the information found within those books and therefore within your notes is public knowledge; that is, anyone can access it using google or other resources.
Not copyright violation if you don't try to sell them.

 

[Jojokarade]

Most books like the ones you used have a page at the start or end that will say something about this. The knowledge isn't copyrighted, but any images might be.

 

[Charles Darwin]

You studied for the MCAT for two years...?

 

[LuciusVorenus]

You studied for the MCAT for two years...?

Bleh. I was ready to take it after 3 months, but some personal issues came up and I delayed it until next summer. It sucks because the extra time made no difference it my grade, I just had to work to keep it up.

 

[Ironmandoc]

No one on here is a copyright or contract attorney, so why does everyone act like an expert?

 

[LuciusVorenus]

No one on here is a copyright or contract attorney, so why does everyone act like an expert?

I was mostly hoping the mods knew haha

EDIT: Maybe I should just contact the BR guy on the site...

 

[wolfie77]

Ok. Weird question, maybe.

I had a lot of time to study for the MCAT (two full years), so I ended up using a lot of different books (BR, PR, EK, etc.). I ended up making a compilation of notes for easier review. It's typed up and separated by sections. I think it's around 150 pages, so it's pretty much just distilled facts.

I feel bad just kind of throwing this away, especially when I put so much time into making it pretty and grammatically correct to satisfy my OCD concerns. So I was wondering if posting my notes to SDN is a violation of the copyrights of the books. I mean, technically I paraphrased everything, included no sample questions, and mixed and matched a lot (although with BR being the heaviest in content a lot is taken from that book).

So, is it ok because they're just facts you could get from any science book, or is the organization of those facts into separate chapters copyrighted? I ask because of the whole copyright fiasco over the spreadsheet a year or so back...

Idk if this violates any copyrights/patents/whatever but I would totally buy this off of you or help u fix typos if I could get access to it.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Idk if this violates any copyrights/patents/whatever but I would totally buy this off of you or help u fix typos if I could get access to it.

No need to pay 🙂 I'm posting it after I'm completely done editing/adding to it sometime near the end of August.

 

[wolfie77]

No need to pay 🙂 I'm posting it after I'm completely done editing/adding to it sometime near the end of August.

Sounds like you're on your way to being the next SN2ed--Premed Mother Theresa.

 

[aposkaha]

Hey! thanks! 👍👍👍

 

[Euxox]

Don't trust what other people here have said. If your notes are based on the books, even loosely, then they are derivative works and you cannot distribute them (even for free) without the permission of the copyright holders of those books. You will have to get the permission from ALL of the copyright holders in writing before posting your notes online.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, but it's always better to stay on the safe side, so I think that contacting the publishers and asking for their permission is your best bet.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Don't trust what other people here have said. If your notes are based on the books, even loosely, then they are derivative works and you cannot distribute them (even for free) without the permission of the copyright holders of those books. You will have to get the permission from ALL of the copyright holders in writing before posting your notes online.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, but it's always better to stay on the safe side, so I think that contacting the publishers and asking for their permission is your best bet.

Yeah I checked and it sounds like it falls under the "condensation" type of derivative works. Apparently Spark Notes asks for publisher permission. Who knew!

Anyways, I'll email the BR guy on SDN but I wouldn't count on him saying yes

 

[unnamedlord]

Actually, if your facts are general scientific facts and as long as u paraphrase everything, you don't need to cite anyone. Technically you have to cite the original scientific papers as they are the source of this knowledge but generally even in a scientific article we don't cite general knowledge. If it is an original idea presented by these books or tips then u have to take their permission. The rights for educational use of a movie clip are given by the publisher and is often stated on their site but highly doubt that Kaplan etc have this. Their work was a derivative of the original scientific papers and they never cite stuff, only high-end scientific books do and articles as what they show may not be general scientific knowledge.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Ok. I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to go through my notes and completely toss out everything that's from any of the books (including any tips, strategies, or brief examples).

That way I'll be left with just cold facts I looked up elsewhere.

I'm going to then use the facts that I got from Wikipedia, etc and just fill out these two guidelines from AAMC.

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85562/data/ps_topics.pdf
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85566/data/bstopics.pdf

That way, even the organization won't be similar to anything from any book.

Better than nothing.

I might just end up uploading it as a google docs too, so people can add to it if they want.

MCAT's changing in 2015 anyways, right?

 

[Charles Darwin]

Ok. I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to go through my notes and completely toss out everything that's from any of the books (including any tips, strategies, or brief examples).

That way I'll be left with just cold facts I looked up elsewhere.

I'm going to then use the facts that I got from Wikipedia, etc and just fill out these two guidelines from AAMC.

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85562/data/ps_topics.pdf
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85566/data/bstopics.pdf

That way, even the organization won't be similar to anything from any book.

Better than nothing.

I might just end up uploading it as a google docs too, so people can add to it if they want.

MCAT's changing in 2015 anyways, right?

I certainly wouldn't mind contributing.

 

[Euxox]

I might just end up uploading it as a google docs too, so people can add to it if they want.

Good idea. Just make sure to create a second uneditable version in case trolls stomp all over the editable one.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

I certainly wouldn't mind contributing.

I'll message you when I upload them sometime next month 🙂

Good idea. Just make sure to create a second uneditable version in case trolls stomp all over the editable one.

Heh. I'll probably upload both word docs/pdfs and a google doc. I remember when they uploaded that spreadsheet within minutes someone made all the cells "penis."