A very good article outlining Fair Use (which is a very grey legal area) is availible here. Going by what the article says, limited quoting from published sources is acceptable in the context of this site because 1) we are only quoting bits n' pieces (as oposed to significant chunks of the full work) 2) we aren't profiting by quoting the chunks 3) we aren't FUing the copyright holder's ability to profit from his/her work and 4) (and this is a little dicey, but) this site is primarily an educational resource (although, legality wise, I'd stick with the first 3 points rather than rely on #4, which is quite a bit weaker.)

Yeah, yeah, IANAL, but I've had a lot of classroom (as teacher and student) and lit mag (writer and editor) involvement, so Ive spent a fair amount of time researching Fair Use. ( and i would have gotten away for it if it weren't for those darn kids and their IP attorney dog . . . )

The Autonomic Pilot; it's FunkyTown, babe.