Re: Use/Publication of Abstracts That Accompany Journal Articles

[Sandy Thatcher <sgt3@psu.edu>]

jAn abstract, whether created by the publisher or by a 
third-party service, is independently copyrightable and an entity 
unto itself. I would therefore not consider it fair use to 
republish the entirety of it without permission.

Where you get the abstract from is immaterial to its copyright 
status. Just because something appears on a government site does 
NOT make it public domain. It is only if the abstract was itself 
created by a federal government agency that it could then be 
considered PD.

Sandy Thatcher
Penn State University Press


> Dear Listers:
>
> I would appreciate your advice on answering these questions,
> recently raised by a faculty member:
>
> "I am creating a bibliography of articles on a topic. My
> bibliography will be published as a journal article or technical
> report.
>
>     -do I need to get permission of the publisher to include the
> abstract that appears in the cited article, or does my use of
> those abstracts fall under fair use? (small portions of the
> original publication)
>
>     -If [I] obtain the abstract from a database like PubMed, which
> is not itself copyrighted and is in the public domain, does that
> affect my use?
>
> Is there a citation or source that I can refer to for
> substantiating this?"
>
> Thanks in advance for your expert opinions and interpretations!
>
> Karen S. Tschanz,  M.L.S., M.B.A., M.S.O.D.
> Asst. Prof./Chair, Content Management
> Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D., Library, AB-241
> Medical College of Georgia
> Augusta, GA 30912
> E-mail: ktschanz@mail.mcg.edu