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A Song of Ice and Fire / A Song of Ice and Fire / Question on quoting

Arend
User ID: 2449714
Jul 29th 12:00 PM
What is the deal with quoting? I mean, in a legal sense?

1) Are we allowed to quote at all?
2) How much are we allowed to quote?
3) Are there any other restrictions?

Anyone know more about this?
Ran
User ID: 0867924
Jul 29th 12:26 PM
I'll assume you mean with GRRM's books specifically. :)

1) Yes.

2) I think GRRM once suggested that something like 100-150 words in a quote would be about the right limit. Myself, I think up to a paragraph of about 6 lines. Not sure how many words.

3) Make sure that folk know where you're getting the quote from. It's probably obvious to people here, but it's useful and all.

In general, it's all fair use. You can generally quote any copyrighted text to the degree necessary to make a point, within limits of reason. You don't need to post a copy of AGoT, for example, to append "_This_ is great writing!" ;)
Conrad
User ID: 9189423
Jul 29th 1:50 PM
"When you play the game of quotes you go all out or you don't. There is no middle ground." ;o)

Arend
User ID: 1118614
Jul 29th 4:55 PM
Conrad, for shame! You should at least attribute the quote to someone :-)
Bernie M.
User ID: 1689844
Jul 29th 6:32 PM
As I understand it, you can quote copyrighted materials as long as you adhere to the "fair use" guidelines. Unfortunately, deciding whether or not something adheres to those guidelines is a very subjective process, and is pretty much at the judge's discretion, should you ever get sued. As I understand it, you can use quotes if you wish to support an argument or criticism. However, you should only quote just enough to get your point across. Like Ran said, GRRM suggested that you're not likely to get sued by using a quote that is under 100-150 words in length.