Too many real estate agents believe that just crediting the author of material they use on their websites or blogs is enough to avoid legal issues.  It very definitely is not.  Everything written is protected by copyright law the moment it's published.  Learn here what you can use and how.

What is the relationship of your selected material to the work as a whole?:

If you're reviewing a book, and use a paragraph out of the entire novel as a quoted reference, it would likely meet this "copyright fair use" test.

If you tried to use a whole chapter, it likely would not.

For what purpose are you using the copyrighted material?:

Is your use one of instruction, or perhaps a non-profit publication. If you're using copyrighted material to make a profit, it could likely get you into trouble and not qualify for the "fair use" defense.

What is the Type or Nature of the Copyrighted Work?:

This consideration is broad and subjective. Are you quoting from a government document, a popular novel, or a competing publication in your field. This could have a direct bearing on how the court would view your use of the material.

How Will Your Use of the Material Impact the Market for the Copyrighted Work?:

If you use parts of a copyrighted work and that use cuts into the sales of the original work, this would be a problem. Or perhaps your use has a negative impact on the image of the original work, there could also be an issue.

Before You Use Any Content from a Copyrighted Work, Be Sure You're Covered:

The "fair use" defense in a charge of copyright infringement isn't always easy to prove.

It's best that all your printed or internet materials are original, as it's not a slam-dunk to try and use the fair use defense.

This is going to be a larger issue in the huge growth of blogging and web sites. There are possibly thousands of violations daily by those who take images or text from a web site or blog and post it on another. If you're in doubt and want to use copyrighted content, ask permission with a detailed explanation of how it's to be used.