Copyright Information

Can I copy excerpts from globalissues.org onto my own site?

Yes, but please bear in mind all of the following:

1. The page(s) must be those written by myself, Anup Shah
2. Only reproduce parts of the page; do not copy the entire contents
3. Towards the end of your reproduced part explain that the rest of the article is at globalissues.org and link back to the exact article (not the home page) for the reader to continue.

The above points are also further explained and in the following questions.

Can I copy an entire article onto my own web site?

Unfortunately I ask you only copy excerpts (see the first question above) and not the entire article.

The main reason is that as I update pages (which can happen at any time) the reader mostly accesses the updated content where mistakes might be corrected, newer or updated information is provided, and so on.

There have been occasions where I’ve found people reproducing entire pages without even acknowledging this site as the source, in effect taking credit for that work, which is not fair.

I am quite flexible on the definition of an excerpt. It could be the first few paragraphs, a quarter of an article, etc.

What is the right way to credit the source article?

I am flexible in how you do this, but consider the following:

• You must link back to the specific page or section on this web site that you cited so readers can read the rest of the article if they wish.
• Please mention the original article name and author for example, when introducing the reproduced portion of content, or after it when explaining where to read the rest of the article.
• You could use the article name as the text of the link back to the original source.
• Mention the last updated date of the original page or when you last accessed the page. Reason: Pages I write I intend to update from time to time, so this information may be useful for people to know.
• The bottom of most articles have examples of how you could link back.

If citing a specific page, a general link to the global issues home page is not going to be as useful for your readers, so please do not use that. Of course you may additionally place a link to the home page as well if that is useful for your readers. If it would be redundant, simply do not bother!

Can I use globalissues.org content in a print publication?

Generally, the above answers for reposting to a web site apply here. If the print publication is for profit/commercial purposes, please contact me⁴; I will generally oblige, but I’d just like to understand a bit more about how the content will be used.

Can I add a link to your globalissues.org site (or page)?

Yes, please feel free to link to the site, it is very much appreciated.

To be honest, you should not need to request permission just to link to another site but a number of people have emailed me asking this so I thought I’d answer that here.

Can I use information on the site for a school project?

Generally, the answer to the first question above applies here, too.

When do these permissions NOT apply?

The news stories in the news⁵ section of this web site are powered by Inter Press Service⁶. They have copyright to the stories and any images presented there. If you wish to obtain copies you can use on your site, you will need to contact Inter Press Service for permission.

Some pages (or portions of pages, especially a number of images) on this site are material that may be copyrighted by other owners, and I have received permission from them. Or, I have been able to reuse such material under Fair Use.

Most pages have icons for features such as emailing a friend, contacting me, viewing printer-friendly versions of the site, etc. Many of these icons come courtesy of Mark James, from his web site famfamfam.com⁷. Please download the appropriate icon set from his web site instead.

The Creative Commons License described above does not apply to such materials, of course. To use such materials you need to contact the owners of those works.

Do I need to let you know when I reuse content from this site?

If the above questions answer your case, you do NOT need to contact me again. Of course it is nice if you let me know, but not mandatory. Save yourself the effort!

Why hide this work behind copyright?

Some may wonder: Why this copyright notice when it is not strictly needed, and why do I appear to be hiding behind copyright? Why won’t I let people reuse this work?

In recent years, for most countries, copyright notices are not explicitly needed. However, by default, this then means that nobody may use this work, except under fair use, or until many decades after I die!

That is not what I want. People regularly ask to reuse this content, and I am happy and honored to oblige. I just wish it to be done in a certain way to ensure proper attribution, and so this notice.

Furthermore, this notice allows you to avoid having to spend time contacting me in most cases and then waiting for me to respond.

What if I’m still unsure?

If the above is not possible, is difficult to comply with, or you are simply not sure, please contact me⁸ — I am quite flexible!

Remember, the purpose of this copyright is not to be mean, nasty, and restrictive but just to ask for proper credit and to ask you to address the fact that I attempt to update pages when I can, and would like to ensure your readers easily access that updated content.