Copying info from this forum

I am a new condo owner and a willing HOA volunteer. The first project I agreed to was to write a letter to homeowners and call for volunteers. New to the HOA Forum, I poured through the discussions and copied inspirations here and there... here are the two threads I copied and want to use...

What many owners forget or don't realize is that the HOA is not some service company that takes care of our property. When we/you bought a property, we became an equal member of the HOA with the same responsibilities and duties as every other member, including your neighbors nice enough to volunteer for the Board. They are giving their time, without pay, to run the HOA but you have the same responsibility they do. In other words, You are the HOA too. If the HOA is not working then the ONLY way to fix it is for VOLUNTEERS to fix it. If no one volunteers then nothing will get done and generally, our property value will go down.”

We are in a partnership with our neighbors to run the Association. You agreed to this partnership when you signed the contract and bought your home. The owners vote in the Board to represent us and actually run the community association, just like we vote in Congress, etc. The Board then needs owner volunteers to get things done or they have to raise dues to hire the help. Your HOA is a non-profit organization and every dollar of dues should either be spent on operations or put in reserve for future expenses.

Does anyone recognize these passages? I will gladly give credit if needed. Thank you in advance.

Oh, any comments or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Nancy

Thank you for your quick response! and Thank you for finding the original post. I am far from finished with the letter. and if I reference the post I will footnote the original writer. I look forward to more responses and suggestions...I see your point, but I am not in a position to make requests for specific projects.

Directors have a fiduciary duty, a duty of loyalty and care to the association. Non-directors don't have that duty. Too often the word volunteer is used as an excuse to cover the mistakes and errors of directors. Nobody agreed to be a director b buying into association. Supposing your neighbor is sole care-giver for a aged family member. He should not be chastised for not volunteering.

What helped us is letting people know that the HOA carries liability insurance to protect the board members. Of course that has it's limitations but it does prevent you from being personally sued. A lot of people have that fear that one wrong decision per an opinion and they face being sued. Decisions of the HOA should be done not as an individual board member but the majority of the board. It is a non-profit (not charitable) corporation. There is a "Corporate shield" in place. (If not better review that insurance).

Many believe a HOA is for "Property values". It is more for the "Appearances" so that homes stay attractive to potential buyers. Whether or not that effects property "value" is subjective as property values are based on real numbers. Those numbers being what has sold or been foreclosed on in a 6 month period of similar bed/bath/footage. It is hard to put a "value" on if someone hasn't mowed their lawn or put up a trash can.

People will typically volunteer when they find something they find value in or a cause. That may be they are the type who wants to enforce the rules. It may be someone who wants to make sure the landscaping is nice. Another may want to make sure the money is spent correctly. Find what motivates a volunteer and play towards that. It will help and make them happier doing something they want to do.

Good luck!

Agree with JohnC; no need to footnote anything from this forum. Also agree with Elle that an HOA is not a "partnership." Nor, as others sometimes have put it,"like a club."

You wrote that you're a "willing volunteer." Does that mean you're a board member? In self-magaged HOAs, I can agree nothing will get done without volunteers, so a lot depends on whether you have a manager and how much time management gives to your community.

Your question and search is really important, Nancy. I believe that you need to get used to HOA language. CAI (Community Asso. Inst) has some free publications to help new HOA owners and members learn about them. Even if not a director, see if you can get a copy of the Board Members Toolkit or some such title at caionline.com.

Words matter and it's my strong feeling that "run" should be avoided. Instead use "govern" at least once if you're seeking board members. Or "guide" or lead." Boards also "decide" and "choose" policies and courses of action.

Other kinds of volunteers -- committees, for instance-- generally have no such authority and the way I see it, should not have such authority.* So... words like "advise," "assist,"" help," "recommend" "support" are good ones. Google any of the above for synonyms to find words that suit your condo HOA.

In general, and I'm in a condo high rise, words like "community" and neighbors or neighborhood are friendly and welcoming. I stole "vertical village" from some other source to use sometimes about my HOA in newsletter articles. With respects to the whole, I also like words like "enhance," improve" "Though less enticing, "maintain" also is a good one.

I do think that years ago I saw some HOA newsletters online; try googling that phrase. If you can find them, they could help a lot. In my experience as a very long-time board member in my HOA, a newsletter is extremely important. Our onsite property manager and his assistant put together ours, but I was the editor for years as a volunteer and perhaps you'd like that role.

Good wishes to you, Nancy!

*Our Arch. control committee does have decision-making authority about requests for ARC changes. But, if owners are denied, they have recourse to bring their situation to the board per our CC&Rs and CA statutes.

-- "Fair use" guidelines indicate to me that the OP is violating no law by not getting the permission of the author as long as the OP does not quote more than about 200 to 300 words; does not do so for profit; and is not taking away profit from the author (or the site owner?).

-- This site's terms of use say that all content is copyrighted by the site owner. Fair use exceptions aside, I think, but do not know for sure, that this translates to all posts being jointly copyrighted by both the site owner and the HOATalk member who wrote the post.

Come on. This is indeed copyright law 101. "Fair use" guidance says time and again around 200 to 300 words is likely fine. Also when the person using the material does so for non-profit purposes, then "fair use" is likely to kick in.

Anyone can look this up.

Yup, we agree on this. Note the qualifier "such as," meaning the list provides only examples and not a complete list. Also keep in mind that the OP would be using the above quotation (in the first post to this thread) to educate, and for a non-profit purpose.It appears you are misreading the above. What this sentence is saying is there is no specific number of words that is either illegal or legal. Each case has to be considered on its own merits.

In my opinion there is no question that the OP would be using the quotation for "fair use" purposes.

Regardless, this is infinitely hypothetical. First, the 2010 thread I linked above indicates the person (a "JamesC") who posted these words was actually quoting someone else. The someone else is not named. Second the chances that the owner of this site could ever identify NancyM29 are minuscule. Third it would not pay for the owner of this site to go after NancyM29 for quoting some 210 words from a post at this site, particularly given the extraordinarily high chances that the usage was for education purposes at a nonprofit (seeking to recruit volunteers, no less).

I routinely post here suggested written communications for people to use with their boards. The site's owners have a copyright on everything posted here. See https://www.hoatalk.com/Forum/tabid/55/ctl/Terms/Default.aspx. I guess you think people cannot use these suggested written communications without permission of the site owner. Funny how I have yet to be evicted from the site for regularly telling people to use the contents of my posts in their written communications.

Read your own citation:

Section 107 [of the Copyright Act] calls for consideration of the following four factors in evaluating a question of fair use:

1.
Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes: Courts look at how the party claiming fair use is using the copyrighted work, and are more likely to find that nonprofit educational and noncommercial uses are fair. This does not mean, however, that all nonprofit education and noncommercial uses are fair and all commercial uses are not fair; instead, courts will balance the purpose and character of the use against the other factors below. Additionally, “transformative” uses are more likely to be considered fair. Transformative uses are those that add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work.

2.
Nature of the copyrighted work: This factor analyzes the degree to which the work that was used relates to copyright’s purpose of encouraging creative expression. Thus, using a more creative or imaginative work (such as a novel, movie, or song) is less likely to support a claim of a fair use than using a factual work (such as a technical article or news item). In addition, use of an unpublished work is less likely to be considered fair.

3.
Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole: Under this factor, courts look at both the quantity and quality of the copyrighted material that was used. If the use includes a large portion of the copyrighted work, fair use is less likely to be found; if the use employs only a small amount of copyrighted material, fair use is more likely. That said, some courts have found use of an entire work to be fair under certain circumstances. And in other contexts, using even a small amount of a copyrighted work was determined not to be fair because the selection was an important part—or the “heart”—of the work.

4.
Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work: Here, courts review whether, and to what extent, the unlicensed use harms the existing or future market for the copyright owner’s original work. In assessing this factor, courts consider whether the use is hurting the current market for the original work (for example, by displacing sales of the original) and/or whether the use could cause substantial harm if it were to become widespread.

In addition to the above, other factors may also be considered by a court in weighing a fair use question, depending upon the circumstances. Courts evaluate fair use claims on a case-bycase basis, and the outcome of any given case depends on a fact-specific inquiry. This means that there is no formula to ensure that a predetermined percentage or amount of a work—or specific number of words, lines, pages, copies—may be used without permission.

In my opinion, a reasonable person would instantly conclude that the quotations the OP wishes to use are "fair use."

Of course Nancy is educating people (in her view) by including those paragraphs.

Regardless, there are still three other factors that easily qualify the paragraphs as fair use.

Liz, your refusal to address the other three considerations for "fair use," taken from your very own citation, says it all.