Summarizing an Article and Fair Use

[barbmlf]

I would like to publish a summary of an article in a magazine on my website. The article is quite lengthy and written in a rather academic style, and I would like to paraphrase it so that people can easily and quickly get the information. (I do not charge people to read articles on my website). The publisher of the magazine has refused my request to do this; but I am wondering what the law says about "fair use" in this case. Thanks so much for your time. I live in Florida.

[cyjeff]

I don't understand.

You asked and were turned down. Are you asking if you should publish anyway?

[barbmlf]

No, I don't plan on publishing it anyway. It just seems wrong to me that I was turned down and I was wondering about what the law says in general in case a similar situation comes up again. I see sometimes where others have summarized articles, and I'm just fuzzy on what the law is regarding such summaries, as long as the source is cited. I guess what I'm asking is: what's covered under copyright? Is it the exact wording of the article, or is the ideas that the article represents?

[barbmlf]

And I guess that's another question. If I did publish it anyway, would I be breaking any laws? Thanks again for your help.

[barbmlf]

Hello,

I was tardy in my reply to a previous post and so I would like to re-start this thread.

My question is, is it legal for me to summarize an article in my own words, and then post it on my website, of course giving credit to the original source. My next question is what if an author or editor refuses to give me permission to do this? Can they legally deny me?

Thank you so much for your help. I live in Florida.

[cyjeff]

yes, they can deny your use.

Was the article published in a public forum?

[barbmlf]

The article was published in a magazine.