Copyright and The Internet</HEAD>

Most everything on the internet is copyrighted whether stated are not.
Not charging for a copy of copyrighted material does not relieve one of blame..
Fair use, for educational, non profit and timely use of material has various interpretations and its exact appropriateness is variously interpreted. Hint: interpret, rewrite, summarize in your own words.
Copyright is a civil violation not a criminal violation--a fine, not usually jail but this is a dynamic changing legal area.
Get permission. Its usually not as hard as one might think, use e-mail.
Assume all e-mail can be read by others but donšt therefore assume you can use it or post it as if it belongs to you. There are many interpretations of this and we can expect more specification legally.
Look for specific permission on the web page to copy or distribute. Of course appropriate quoting or paraphrasing in class papers does not violate copyright or plagiarism standards. Remember to always reference your source even if you only used ideas and not specific quotes.
All the above applies to graphics, sounds, movies, etc., especially if its on a large companies page (e.g. Disney).
For more information on copyright and the web check out:

Fairuse A comprehensive site containing information and links to copyright issues.