What is the legality of taking small quotes from articles on websites, aggregating them on my own website. Then sell access to this website?
Answer
There's a boundary between permissible "fair use" and unlawful infringement. Without more particular information on how "small" your quotes would be, some idea of the profits you'll make from your Web site, whether the quoted material is covered by (registered) copyright protection, and the likely attitudes of the original writers, it's really hard to say what your probability is of being sued. To get a better feel, buy a self-help law book on copyright and read some of the discussion about fair use versus infringing use. If any doubt remains, you should probably invest in a preventitive consultation with an I-P attorney. You need to take into account both the actual boundary between fair use and infringement, and the propensity of a suit. You might get away with a bit of infringement if the original author's financial losses were small, or on the other hand, you might have to endure an expensive legal defense of a suit you'd eventually win.
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