Discussion:
I'm in NY.
I'm thinking of selling books as an Amazon affiliate...to create copy for my site and sell books, I want to use portions of the books I'm selling, from a few paragraphs to a few pages, in order to create content for my site but most importantly sell books. Since I'm using the copy to sell the book, not take away from the publisher's profits--just the opposite--can I get in trouble? What about research data that may be found in a book, but is referenced from a particular study that I don't have a copy of?
Answer:
I guess I'm not completely clear on what you are looking to do here -- but one thing, have you asked the publishers if they have any guidelines on what is acceptable use in this case? As a general rule, there are certain uses of copyrighted materials that are "fair uses," but it depends how much of the material is used and in what context.
"Since I'm using the copy to sell the book, not take away from the publisher's profits--just the opposite--can I get in trouble?"
If your use is a "fair use" you won't get in trouble -- but fair use is a defense to an infringement action, so you would still need a lawyer if you were accussed of infringement. Your best course of action to avoid problems is to either get permission or guidelines from the publishers, or take all of your materials to a local attorney experienced in copyrights to get an opinion.
"What about research data that may be found in a book, but is referenced from a particular study that I don't have a copy of?"
Data is not copyrightable, but any formatting of the data or opinions and analysis of the data would be. Using the data in your own format, and making your own conclusions about the data, would not be a violation of copyright.