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I want to use the quote about the law of equivalent exchange from Fullmetal Alchemist and relate it to our chemistry lesson as an introduction for my essay. If it's possible, how can I use it?

Ken2x
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    Most likely you should credit the scriptwriter of Fullmetal Alchemist, not the fictional character... You may get away with attributing it to the TV series, maybe adding season and episode number. – Erk Sep 15 '21 at 04:37
  • @Erk: Never got into the show, but the equivalent exchange was quoted in every episode by way of being the opening line of the title sequence. Attributing it to a single episode or season is like asking him to attribute which episode of Power Rangers Zordon said "Alpha, Rita's escaped. Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!" It wasn't until the show's 4th season that the line stopped being in the credits and the line was never clipped from any episode of the show proper (The first episode gave a much longer line that wasn't snappy for a title sequence). – hszmv Sep 15 '21 at 13:31
  • @hszmv, right, then it may be possible to just use the name of the TV show. I didn't make an answer since I have no clue about academically quoting TV shows. If I'd used the quote on my blog I'd likely just added the show's name. On the other hand, I suspect this quote isn't going to be part of the academic argument, so in that case, maybe the rules are a bit laxer... maybe it'll even cause some humorous comments if the citation is too academical... – Erk Sep 15 '21 at 15:34
  • Is this for academic publication or for use in education? The latter use should be allowable under copyright legislation, but check as jurisdictions and laws vary in different regions. – Leon Conrad Sep 16 '21 at 18:25

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Academic works benefit from a lessened restriction of copyright because scholarship and research are defined as Fair Use.

This does not mean academic works have carte blanche when it comes to copyrighted material. Fair use applies if:

  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;

  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;

and

  1. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

In your example, it seems that cases 1,2 and 4 are satisfied as negligible. That you are citing a fictional work whose creative nature provides it highest degree of copyright protect is the only factor that weighs against inclusion of the phrase.

The only argument for not incorporating the quotation is that a publishing journal might either reject the paper or demand the quotation's excision, since they'd bear the financial risk of defending the publication against infringement and judgement (if they lost)

As to how to use it, I asked a similar question about quotations at the start of a chapter and the answer is here (spoiler they’re called epigrams)

EDL
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