Getting Permission When Your Use is Not Fair Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

Guiding Questions Why get permission? Who should I contact? o How do I contact the copyright holder? What should I say? o What if my use is denied or I get no answer? What if I can’t find someone to contact? How is licensing related? Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

Why get permission? Your use is not fair This might happen if your use is: o Too extensive or long o Commercial o Detrimental to market value o Or the work is highly creative Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

Who do I contact? The current copyright holder - this could be: o The author or creator o A publishing company o A beneficiary of the creator or someone else For help, check: o Author and publisher websites o The US Copyright Office o Stanford Copyright Renewal Database o Collective Licensing Agencies (more about these later) Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

How should I make contact? **Be sure to keep copies of all correspondences for your own records!** Write a letter to the copyright holder If the owner is a publishing company there may be a form on the company’s website that allows you to formally request permission Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

What should I say? What portion of the material you will be using How you will be using the material The frequency of your use What you will be getting out of the use (e.g. money, prestige) Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

What happens if I get no response? No response from the copyright holder does not grant you permission to use a work! Consider using an alternative work or paring down your intended use of the work o An author may be more willing to consider and respond to a request for a more limited use of their materials Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

What if my request is denied? Double check to see if your use is fair Replace the material with something you can legally use Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

What if I cannot find a copyright holder? Works for which the copyright holder cannot be found are called orphan works o Currently, you still need permission to use these works Double check to see if your use is fair Replace the material with something you can legally use Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

How is licensing related? If a work is licensed, licenses generally take precedence over copyright o e.g. a Creative Commons license For some works you can purchase a license to use the work through a collective licensing agency o Agencies have often negotiated access to works o e.g. The Copyright Clearance Center Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

Questions? Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

Resources US Copyright Office search for registered documents (from after 1978) o Copyright Education & Consultation Page on getting permission o copyright/getting-permission/ copyright/getting-permission/ Stanford Copyright Renewal Database o ewal ewal Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program

More Info … The Copyright Education & Consultation Program is funded by a Library and Technical Services Grant Administered by the Illinois State Library Please visit our website at Slides produced by the Copyright Education & Consultation Program