Editing Encyclopedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous (section)

== [[:n:Trainmen_and_engineers_go_on_statewide_strike_in_New_Jersey,_first_time_in_42_years]] ==

Requesting assistance with copyright. Is it acceptable to keep 2-3 sentences quote from external sources. (if not, you can edit and reword it)  For a few years I have been at the site and collaborating, I have not understood what is a "safe" amount of quotes to shove on a page. Would appreciate a fresh cross-wiki perspective. Thanks. [[User:Gryllida|Gryllida]] ([[User talk:Gryllida|talk]], [[Special:EmailUser/Gryllida|e-mail]]) 12:30, 18 May 2025 (UTC)

:IMO, quoting several sentences verbatim from someone's public speech is less problematic than an extended quotation from a written work. Such quotations often need to several sentences to ensure the core message can be understood in its proper context, and any paraphrasing of spoken text needs to be done with extra care. [[Press statement]]s and similar are even issued in the hope their content will be faithfully copied and their message thereby spread further. &nbsp;&ZeroWidthSpace;‑‑[[User talk:Lambiam#top|Lambiam]] 19:22, 18 May 2025 (UTC)

::The Wikipedia rules on this are at [[Wikipedia:Quotations]]. To quote that page:
::{{xt|...quoting a brief excerpt from an original source can sometimes explain things better and less controversially than trying to explain them in one's own words.}}
::[[User:Alansplodge|Alansplodge]] ([[User talk:Alansplodge|talk]]) 21:51, 18 May 2025 (UTC)