Question about the copyright of survey items

Suhua Dong:

I have a question about the copyright of survey items. Is it OK to use a few items (even exact wording) from an existing survey without giving credit to or asking for permission from the author (s) of the survey? Or does this amount to a violation of copyright law? What advice would you give to persons who want to adopt just a few items from a survey to construct their own assessment tool?

David Chadima:

No, it is not OK to use items from a published survey, and yes, it would be a violation of copyright laws.

Jeffrey Chen:

In general, you want to credit the original author. However, this depends on the questions that you want to "borrow." If you use the questions such as: "your gender", "your age group", "your satisfaction with your instructors", etc., there is no need to credit the original author (if there is one). On the other hand, if you plan to use a block of questions from another survey (so that the group/national comparisons are possible), not only you should credit the original author but also seeking written permission (esp. if the survey is copy righted).