The question of permissions comes up fairly often among my clients. Some people like using famous quotes in their manuscripts. Others quote individuals they know or experts in their field. And, when it comes time to think about publishing their books, they begin to consider getting permission to use these quotes. Well, actually, if they’re my clients, I’ve nagged them a lot to get permission before publishing. And it’s not always an easy process. Plus, it can take time. Wait too long to do this and publication may be delayed.
One client managed to get permission to use song lyrics FREE as long as he only produced X-number of books and no more. I once got permission to use a list of character values for a book which someone had compiled for their organization. I believe I paid $100 for once-time use—one printing of the book. Mostly, the permissions I request are from individuals I have quoted—some of them professionals/authors and some regular citizens. There’s no fee involved. The professionals and authors like the exposure and the others enjoy being included in a published book.
But what about when you want to quote a well-known philosopher, long-dead author, sections of a famous speech, a sermon or a passage from the Bible, for example? What are the copyright laws? When does fair use come into the picture? Where do you go to get permission to quote a piece of literature? It can become quite overwhelming and confusing.
Steve Thomas spells out the basics of fair use, when you need written permission, how to get permission, how long it takes and so forth in a brief article posted here: http://www.associatedcontent.com Use his name or “permission to quote” in the search function.
The following are also links to information about getting permission to quote.
http://www.suite101.com/content/permission-to-quote-a7637
http://www.suite101.com/content/use-quotes-in-your-book-a9237
http://www.ehow.com/how_18035_permission-copyrighted-material.html
http://oreilly.com/oreilly/author/permission/
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html
I hope you found this helpful to your project. For additional information about all aspects of publishing and freelance writing, visit my websites:
http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com