Rights and
Permissions
According to the terms of our publishing contract,
authors are responsible for ensuring that their work does not violate copyright
laws.
If any substantial part of your work has been
previously published, you will need to show evidence that you have the right to
allow us to republish it before we can accept your manuscript for copy editing.
What is
"Fair Use"?
Some uses of previously published or copyrighted
material do not require permission if they fall under the heading of "fair use."
The term "fair use" in the copyright law refers to circumstances under which
copyrighted material may be quoted without permission. Although no specific
quantitative guidelines exist, the Press believes authors may generally quote
without permission up to five hundred words in order to illustrate a point,
substantiate a position, clarify an argument, or fulfill some similar scholarly
need, assuming the quoted material is taken from an average-sized book. Of
course, such quotations should be properly documented according to usual
scholarly practice. If you have questions about whether your contemplated use
of material from a copyrighted source qualifies for treatment as fair use,
contact your editor.
Always obtain
written permission to use:
· Any
copyrighted material that is an entity itself, such as a map, table,
photograph, chapter of a book, article in a journal or newspaper, short story,
poem, essay, or chart. Permission should be obtained from the author or
copyright holder as well as the publisher.
· A
private letter (the letter writer, not the recipient, holds the rights).
· More
than one line of a short poem or one stanza of a long poem (unless it was
published before 1923).
· Music
or words to a song (unless it was published before 1923).
· A
reproduction of a work of art such as a painting or statue. The authority to
grant permission to reproduce works of art may be held by the museum in which
the art is located, by the artist, or by a private owner. Permission should be
obtained at the time reproduction is made.
Signed releases should also be obtained from the
subjects of interviews. U.S. government publications and publications for which
the copyright has expired may be used without requesting permission.
How long does
copyright last?
If the work was:
· Created
or published after 1978, the copyright term is for the lifetime of the author
+50 years.
· Anonymous
or made for hire, the copyright term is 75 years from publication or 100 years
from creation, whichever is sooner.
· Copyrighted
between 1950 and 1978, copyright term is 28 years from original copyright date
and may be renewed for 47 years more, a total of 75 years; renewal is automatic
for books published between 1964 and 1978.
· Copyrighted
before 1950 and at least 75 years past original copyright and/or the most
recent renewal, no permission is required.
To find out whether a copyright has been renewed,
authors should consult the Catalog of Copyright Entries of the U.S. Copyright Office for the year in
which the renewal should have been made (i.e., twenty-eight years after the
original copyright date).
Request forms.
Three forms are available to request permission for use of
material:
1.
Consent to Publish
(for material such as a chapter or foreword produced by someone else for
inclusion in your book)
2.
Permission to Use
Material (for copyrighted material you want to include in your book)
3.
Work
for Hire Agreement (for material you're paying someone else to produce)
When in doubt about using copyrighted material,
authors should consult a Press editor.
