Using news to write articles

[thebk]

Hello all,

I'm starting a news website, and I have a quick but rather important question...

Can I rewrite the content of other major news websites?

For example, if we looked at the gaming area, would I be able to go to websites like gamespot or ign, read through their article and find the facts, and then write my own article on the news content.

Cheers

[JakeMoore]

They don't own the facts.

[samilan]

Yes, you can re-write, but be careful about real meaning during re-write.
If you rewrite news, i would like to suggest that post that news as an article, to avoid any copy issues.

[dmvictoria]

I do this all the time with news article and I often site numerous articles for my sources. There is nothing wrong with putting a particular subject into your own words and draw your own conclusions.

Always refer to your sources and link back to the original article. As long as you are not taking someone else's content and claiming it is your own (plagiarism) you should be ok.

[intelliServe]

Basically totally re-write it in your own words, you'll be fine.
Just be careful with actual exclusives.

[HTMLBasicTutor]

You have proposed two ideas here:

1. Rewriting

Can I rewrite the content of other major news websites?

You don't think you will get caught? Don't you think your readers will know you just rewrote the article?

2. Write you own article after reading other articles

would I be able to go to websites like gamespot or ign, read through their article and find the facts, and then write my own article on the news content.

If you truly do read other articles on the subject to collect points to discuss, quote a line or two c/w source then discuss the statement in your own words, be it agree or disagree, then this will add credibility to your article. The only about writing about what's a hot topic is everyone else in the industry does too. You have to make your approach different from the others to stand out from the crowd. This happens in the SEO blogs all the time. Something happens, someone like Google announces something and every SEO blog writes about it. Usually without an indepth analysis of the consequences, pros or cons.

[thebk]

Originally Posted by intelliServe

Basically totally re-write it in your own words, you'll be fine.

I plan on totally rewriting any articles, I just can't seem to understand how else you would find news, especially for a small niche, if the press release isn't available.

Originally Posted by intelliServe

Just be careful with actual exclusives.

How do I know if it's an exclusive? if they don't mention that it's an exclusive and I rewrite an article based on the news someone has exclusively, is that against any laws?

[andreapg]

Usually I write a summary of the story in my own words and I quote the source, so the readers visit it for more details.

[nbspecialist]

Originally Posted by JakeMoore

They don't own the facts.

good says jake... hahah agree... better u go for other languages websites and find your interest articles and translate them in to ur languages and then make some changes accordingly this is the smartest way to create articles i guess..

[serena85]

You can re-write anything you want is it just a news that is it told from your side, and no one can accuse you of nothing for example "Bin Ladden just died", and you are saying "No more Bin Ladden" just an example of rewriting.

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by thebk

How do I know if it's an exclusive? if they don't mention that it's an exclusive and I rewrite an article based on the news someone has exclusively, is that against any laws?

You don't just rewrite an exclusive news article. You quote it with a citation in place. As for rewriting other news, you do your research by reading other news articles, take notes of important points and write your own article in your own words.

[astaalvista_b]

All the issued talked about here reading articles and rewriting new ideas according to what you sum up in your mind. However sometimes there is a static information that it is not easy to handle without telling it with exact words. For example, us oil production last year is 5.5 million barrels that I learned from a government agency. Is it illegal to use such an information by referring the original site details?

[dmvictoria]

Originally Posted by astaalvista_b

For example, us oil production last year is 5.5 million barrels that I learned from a government agency. Is it illegal to use such an information by referring the original site details?

Not at all, in fact it is done all the time. Just watch the news broadcasts, they are always using content from other news agencies, governments and private companies, but they always mention their sources. Also with most information originating from government agencies it is considered public domain (definitely USA, check terms & conditions for other countries).

What WOULD be illegal is if you used information gathered from government or other sources and claimed it was your own.

It is important to remember, its perfectly ok to quote direct content from other sources as long as you clearly identify the source, usually with a link back. The quote can't be an excessive amount of content, just a sentence or two. You can write a new article from source articles and put into your own words, you should still link back to the sources.

[rsseosolution]

ofcourse you can rewrite the news articles. rewriting the existing content is just like writing a new article without copyright infrignment.

[wpexpert]

yes,you can rewrite them..
if you can't rewrite just place the credit link in under the article ( But don't overflow this ) Try to rewrite most of them ..

[SeoShop]

Yes , you can rewrite news articles. News articles from different agencies often have the same core information but not exact wording

[nickysb2b]

Most TV news is reported as given some add their own spin to it that is all and you are able to quote

[imoonwalk]

I would mention the original source and write down summary/conclusion in my words including "in my opinion" or related phrase. Copyright Revision Act of 1976 currently governs copyright law - states: Only tangible writings - writings that can be physically seen - are subject to copyright registration and protection. Copyright is protected under federal copyright law. A copyright is created when an author produces his /her work. For Example: When a student writes a term paper for his/her class, he owns the copyright to his work. When an author publishes an article he/she owns a copyright to his works.
Read More http://www.copyright.gov/title17/

[HTMLBasicTutor]

To all of those who are saying rewriting is ok,

How are you going to know if the news is exclusive and/or deal with exclusives as intelliServe pointed out?

Originally Posted by intelliServe

Just be careful with actual exclusives.

[astaalvista_b]

Originally Posted by dmvictoria

It is important to remember, its perfectly ok to quote direct content from other sources as long as you clearly identify the source, usually with a link back. The quote can't be an excessive amount of content, just a sentence or two. You can write a new article from source articles and put into your own words, you should still link back to the sources.

How about a statistical information as a gif file such as historical oil production of USA, can I use it my website if I refer to the website or Do I have to build my own graph using the same information?