Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Use Of Published Articles On My Product

Posted by Anonymous on 8/26/2008 at 8:33 AM ET 500 Points
Can someone out there provide me with guidelines on referencing/linking/ or reproducing articles that have been written about my product. Some are in national publications while some are industry specific. I would like to leverage these articles on my website and/or direct mail campaigns but I am not sure if I need written permission for their use or if I can just document the source.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 8/26/2008 at 8:41 AM Member
    It depends on how you are using the articles. If you are linking to them on your website or blog (ie, 'Our company in the news', you probably don't need permission so long as they are properly cited. If, however, you're using them as an endorsement in some form, such as in a mailout, best-practices would probably indicate you should obtain permission. Newspapers you may not need permission from, but industry journals and the like should probably give the okay unless it's something like 'Such-and-Such Journal named our company #1 in customer service'.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 8/26/2008 at 9:19 AM Member
    In some cases, you might need to purchase reprints of the articles. When in doubt, ask the source. It'll avoid problems down-the-road, and might build a stronger relationship into the future.
  • Posted by Mikee on 8/26/2008 at 9:25 AM Accepted
    You can link to anything on the web, and most websites would welcome this. The trick is to get others to link to your site. If you know of online articles it would be great to contact the author to see if they will place a link in the article or at the bottom to your site. It is very advantageous to have links to your website, especially if the information is directly related to what you do or your product.

    You will definitely want to contact the publisher or author of any printed material (magazines, journals, or newspapers) to get permission to distribute any articles. Many of these companies will sell or provide reprints that you can distribute. If you are just going to say a"s written about in Journal X" it should not be a problem.

    Hope this helps,
    Mike
  • Posted by J Geibel on 8/26/2008 at 8:47 PM Member
    It all depends on the source, and how you use it.

    Generally speaking - if the publication (or web site) is copyrighted, you'll need some sort of permission, with perhaps the exception of linking to the article.

    But then you have to monitor the links - because the publication may change it. I've been to plenty of web sites that have tons of dead links. It really gives a bad impression.

    Also - review the articles carefully and ask yourself if it is worthwhile marketing material - or just a 'round up' of vendors - which may help your competition as much as you. In other circumstances, I have clicked on links to articles that had reader's (that is, ex-employees) comments posted which trashed the president of the company that had posted the link. Obviously, someone had not checked the web site.

    If you want reprints, or to duplicate the webpage on your site - you will need written permission. Some publications are very reasonable - some are outrageous - all depends.
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