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Let's say I found some useful information on a webpage I wanted to save for future reference. Is it legal to save that text onto a word document for my own personal reference? I have no intention of distributing said document for commercial use or profit.

James
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    What scope? What kind of text? Is it under license (e.g. Wikipedia, SE)? Do you have intention to distribute it at all? – Trish Sep 22 '22 at 07:39
  • As far as scope, it could be a sentence or a paragraph. Let's assume it is under license. There is no intention to distribute at all. – James Sep 22 '22 at 12:05
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    @James Under what license? I think what you mean to ask is what's the case if no license conditions at all are stated, which is the most common and the worst case. – Philipp Sep 22 '22 at 12:20
  • As far as license, let's say I do a Google search and just want to copy the sentence answer in bold? – James Sep 22 '22 at 12:31
  • Google Search does not grant you any license, it explicitly says "Check the linked page what or if a license applies" – Trish Sep 22 '22 at 12:52
  • However, the specific context of copying text is purely for personal use. Wouldn't this simple context I'm describing fall under fair use? – James Sep 22 '22 at 12:59
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    See also: How is internet archiving legal, when it appears to violate many websites terms of use? – Brandin Sep 22 '22 at 14:08
  • @James The problem with fair use is that only a court can really say, and it depends on four factors, including the nature of the copyrighted work that you're copying (e.g. non-fiction or fiction). But no copyright holder can practically take you to court over this until you redistribute it. – Brandin Sep 22 '22 at 14:10
  • You are just rehashing the same theme here James, the answer should be the same whether it's a PDF, Word, Powerpoint, Publisher, ad naseum... – Michael Hall Sep 22 '22 at 15:37
  • It seems nonsensical that it is illegal to copy a small string of text for purely noncommercial use. How is it not legal when businesses engage in mass webscraping for profit purposes? Obviously everyone does this whether they're aware of it or not and there is no way any legal action would be possible to enforce the exact scenario I am describing. If this is illegal, it is completely divorced from common sense. – James Sep 22 '22 at 16:15
  • “It seems nonsensical that it is illegal to copy a small string of text for purely noncommercial use.”…. ”it is completely divorced from common sense.” Agree, maybe that explains the downvotes?! – Michael Hall Sep 22 '22 at 21:04
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    @James You can say the same about almost any activity that you find harmless and wish were legal. "It seems nonsensical that it is illegal to smoke a small amount of cannabis in the privacy of my own home, ..." etc. Insert your favourite illegal activity there. – Brandin Sep 23 '22 at 06:02
  • No, it's different because with regards to intellectual property, in specific context, we're dealing with intangible ideas and the act of writs and prose. Millions of people are committing copyright and they don't even realize it which is absurd. It's far different than the cannabis example which is a poor one at that. – James Sep 23 '22 at 19:34

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