<p>Calmom, I think you, as a journal editor, are confusing your journal's reprint permission (requested from authors) with photocopying a published article. If the author retained copyright (sold/gave first rights only), then the author can go on to publish his/her work elsewhere. That is different from photocopying a published article: the typeset article (with or without art) is more than just the author's words -- it falls under the journal's "all rights reserved" copyright. If we're assuming this is not fair use (which is still being hotly debated and isn't likely to be settled in the court of CC), then the publisher's permission is required to copy the printed image.</p>
<p>dstark said:
[quote]
If I sat on a jury and the publisher sued the person who was an object of the article for reprinting it, the publisher would have no chance. </p>
<p>The article is about "him".
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Thanks for that commonsense gut response. I empathize. Alas, it's dead wrong. As you know, copyright infringement is a civil matter, not criminal, so no jury--however fairminded--will be consulted. According to copyright guidelines regarding fair use, the TYPE of content does matter (e.g., fact vs. fiction), but the fact that the OP's son was mentioned in the article gives him no special rights under the law.</p>
<p>I just sat on a jury involving a civil matter.</p>
<p>If your son's article was a research article, don't bother sending the whole thing. Just send the abstract. That's all the admissions committee or any professors that the committee sends the article to will need to read to evaluate it.</p>
<p>Determination of "fair use" involves a balancing of the four factors mentioned by Celloguy and usually therefore is a bit unpredictable (yes, a jury trial is possible in a copyright infringement case).<br>
However, for practical purposes I would agree with Northstarmom. Loading up one's application with laudatory supplemental materials is more likely to produce a groan of despair from an overworked adcom than a shout of "yippee!". I would send only what you would like to see one night around 10 PM if you were an adcom burning the candle at both ends while trying to be fair to applicants.</p>