Copyright and Permission Issues
According to copyright law you must receive written permission to use any piece of artwork, graph, photo, or a segment of text from anything that has been written, whether it is published or not. All permissions must be submitted in writing along with the final manuscript. PennWell will not print art or materials from other sources without necessary written permissions on file from the copyright holders. Any materials lacking those permissions at production time may be removed from the book. According to Copyright Law Section 107. Limitations on exclusive rights (Fair use):
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include-
(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
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
In addition, the Copyright Office answers the question, "How much of someone else's work can I use without getting permission?" as follows:
Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentages of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances.
As you can see, there are no hard and fast rules to determine what exactly constitutes infringement when borrowing materials from another work for commentary. However, it is better to be safe than sorry. Always give the originators of borrowed text thorough and appropriate credit, and if there is any question in your mind on an acceptable amount from a single source, ask permission.
To assist your effort to gain permissions for use of copyrighted materials in your manuscript, we have provided a permission request form for your use. For additional copyright instruction, check out the Office of Copyright website at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/.
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