When publishing, what kinds of material require permission from the copyright owner?
Remember that copyright applies to the fixed expression of information, not the information itself. If you are quoting brief passages from a work or paraphrasing ideas, you only need to cite your sources—you do not need copyright permission. However, you will need permission from the copyright holder if you wish to re-publish a signficant portion of a work or an entire work. Examples of a significant portion include: • an image (e.g. a table, graph, map, photograph, etc) • a portion of scanned or photocopied text • a substantive portion of a written work (over 500 words of text).
Related Questions
- The use of the copyright notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission from, or registration with, the Copyright Office. (back to top) How is copyright notice properly displayed?
- What sort of information should go in a letter to a publisher requesting permission to include copyright material in another publication?
- Is there a particular procedure for obtaining permission from the copyright owner?
