In general, we believe that many of the papertext world copyright laws should extend directly into cyberspace. For example, if you put up a page on the World Wide Web, and display a copyright notice on that page, then that page should be legally considered your property and should be protected by law. The same holds true for graphics. If you create a picture, and place a copyright notice on that picture, then it should be considered your property. Should others intend to use it, they must also display your copyright notice.
Another issue which relates to the papertext world is formatting. We feel that you should be able to copy the format of another person's web page. However, if they are doing something that seems innovative, you should tell them your intentions. This would not be a law, per se, but rather an ethical guideline.
From here, the issues in cyberspace begin to deviate from those in the papertext world.
One major area for discussion is the Fair Use provision of U.S. Copyright law. This states that you may quote no more than 10% of someone else's work. We feel that this refers to the entire document, as opposed to each individual page. Essentially, you may quote an entire page, so long as that is not more than 10% of the entire document. However, if you mention another document and create a link to it, this should not count as a copy or quotation. Making a link would be analogous to including a "Works Consulted" section in a paper.
Your document, as referred to above, would be considered as all parts of your site that contribute directly to the particular subject matter you are writing about. This means all pages on your site which you directly reference for information, but not necessarily those which you refer to as 'other sources of information.'
The copyright laws of cyberspace are still being written. And whether or not you agree with our specific opinions here, the most important thing to remember is that it all boils down to one central, ethical ideal: you cannot use someone else's thoughts or ideas without giving proper credit.