What info can you legally reproduce on your blog or Intranet?

I stumbled across a great writeup on aviva directory about 12 important U.S. laws every blogger needs to know. These laws determine when you can, or can’t, reproduce a photo or other image - so understanding them is crucial for folks like me who want to highlight a research finding without violating copyright laws for fair use, etc.

Good example: A recent dustup with a Wiley Interscience journal gave many science bloggers and journalists a good scare. On the blog Retrospectacle!, Shelley Batts reproduced a couple of figures and charts from an antioxidant article in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Here are her comments about what happened (eventually she reproduced the data herslef, using Excel).

The story hit slashdot and other popular sites, and many called for a boycott of Wiley journals. Eventually Batts received an apology from the Society of Chemical Industry, owner of the journal, saying it was a misunderstanding.