Rules/laws posting picture of the problem statement

[LongApple]

I am not sure the right section of the forum to post this.

Let's say you have a schaum's book and you take a picture of the problem statement and diagram and post it on a forum to ask for help on understanding the solution to the problem. Are there laws against this/penalties? What about taking screenshots of problem statements or diagrams from online problems such as on a blog or Schaum's accompanying online material?
http://www.solved-problems.com/circ...cal-circuit-contest-submit-answers/#more-1369

1. Homework Statement

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

 

[Evo]

Welcome LongApple. As long as you completely fill out the homework template, you can post pictures of graphs and drawings and the text of problems as long as you don't use the attachment as a substitute for writing it out. Attachments are only acceptable as a supplement, they are not acceptable as a replacement.

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/guidelines-for-students-and-helpers.686781/

 

[LongApple]

Welcome LongApple. As long as you completely fill out the homework template, you can post pictures of graphs and drawings and the text of problems as long as you don't use the attachment as a substitute for writing it out. Attachments are only acceptable as a supplement, they are not acceptable as a replacement.

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/guidelines-for-students-and-helpers.686781/

What I mean is are there laws I can get in trouble with the government or say the company that owns a solved problem book when I take a picture of a page and post it? Rules not related to the forum but just of posting a picture from a textbook I purchased

If so, are there workarounds like dropbox links that expire shortly so there is none of their material posted on the web? Or deleting the picture link myself by editing the post after I have answered

I've emailed a company I bought a solved problem book from and haven't had a response

 

[SteamKing]

What I mean is are there laws I can get in trouble with the government or say the company that owns a solved problem book when I take a picture of a page and post it? Rules not related to the forum but just of posting a picture from a textbook I purchased

If so, are there workarounds like dropbox links that expire shortly so there is none of their material posted on the web? Or deleting the picture link myself by editing the post after I have answered

I've emailed a company I bought a solved problem book from and haven't had a response

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

Of course, posting a copy of or a link to an entire work is not considered 'fair use' and is also a violation of PF Rules.

 

[Evo]

Many pictures are copyrighted, so you could run into trouble by posting a copyrighted picture.

Also, Fair Use only allows you to use a very small portion of a copyrighted work, you should not post an entire page. It states in the US Government link SteamKing provided.

The distinction between what is fair use and what is infringement in a particular case will not always be clear or easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

You should not be posting solutions out of a solutions book. I don't know where you are planning to do so, but it is absolutely not allowed here.

 

[jtbell]

I think the copyright protection doesn't apply to mathematical equations, only to their printed form in a specific book. It's illegal to reproduce a page of equations from a book by photographing it and posting the photograph (unless it falls under the Fair Use exception), but it's legal to post the same equations yourself, either by using LaTeX or something similar, or by writing them out by hand and taking a picture of that.

 

[LongApple]

It looks like I can no longer edit my posts to the remove the images. Not all of the images can be expired and I am wondering what are some options now?

In general, if you had a question about a solution in a textbook and wanted to ask here what would you do? It might be difficult to explain why a step in a solution is confusing to me without the solution

 

[StevieTNZ]

In NZ, the following provisions of the Copyright Act apply to research or private study: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/latest/whole.html?search=ts_act_copyright act#DLM345962

Whether the US Acts/courts hold a similar position I have no idea.

EDIT: Found section 44, which permits either 5% (or 5 pages) or 3% (or 3 pages) (dependent on the date of publication) of the work - http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/latest/DLM345964.html

 

[jtbell]

In general, if you had a question about a solution in a textbook and wanted to ask here what would you do? It might be difficult to explain why a step in a solution is confusing to me without the solution

In that case, I would write out, as part of the post, the equations for the steps in question, using either plain text (if the equations are simple enough for that) or LaTeX, along with enough description of the other steps to show their context. It shouldn't be necessary to write out all the steps of the complete solution in order to do this.

This allows other people to comment on the equations individually by quoting them in the usual way, and make corrections by copying, pasting and editing them. Besides copyright issues, our main objection to posting images of problems and solutions is that we can't easily quote individual equations from them. This makes more work for the homework helpers because they have to write the equations again from scratch if they want to correct them. Posting an image is easy for you, but it usually makes more work for the rest of us. We're not getting paid for this, after all.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

Wouldn't the images or use of information of a book be legal if it was for educational purposes? Just giving a reference to where the material came from and not gaining monetary compensation would make it legal? I am speaking about America in particular. I remember hearing about this in class a while back but I was not paying attention because it was Art cclass lol.

 

[Evo]

Wouldn't the images or use of information of a book be legal if it was for educational purposes? Just giving a reference to where the material came from and not gaining monetary compensation would make it legal? I am speaking about America in particular. I remember hearing about this in class a while back but I was not paying attention because it was Art cclass lol.

For educational purposes, so they could not be used on an online forum like this.

In general, students and instructors may create multimedia works for face-to-face instruction, directed self-study, or remote instruction provided that the multimedia works are used only for educational purposes in systematic learning activities at nonprofit educational institutions.

See more at: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overvie...sed-fair-use-guidelines/#sthash.aYeY35S5.dpuf