Hello, I was wondering, if I chose to use newspaper articles in my book, am I covered by simply citing the work using MLA? Do I have to pay the paper a fee to use their work? Thanks! Mike McGuire, NJ
you wouldn't use mla citations in a novel... is your book a non-fiction work of some kind? and why do you need to use them?
Yes, I am considering doing a nonfiction book dealing with a series of local fires in my area during the 1980's. Many of the details are from local newspapers (which I would paraphrase, obviously).
If you're just getting your facts from the newspaper, and writing them up using your own words, then I don't think that you have any duty to the _newspaper_ (as opposed to your readers, who may want to know where you got your information) to cite, credit, or pay a fee. But I Am Not A Lawyer.
if you paraphrase, you don't have to do anything but mention the source... and don't really have to that, either, unless you feel it's helpful to the reader to do so... you can also include actual articles as inserts, to make it more interesting to the reader and let them read what was written about the incidents at the time... you can check out the legal issues in re doing so here: www.copyright.gov
