copyright on old writings

I wanted to start a daily newsletter on my website that would send one of my favorite poems to subscribers every day. Most of them I would get from a book that is a compilation of old poetry from various authors. I've seen other websites with these poems on them, but did not know if I would be violating any copyright laws by putting them in a newsletter? If it is against the law, is there any way I could get permission from the publisher of the book? Please help!

Thank you

Patricia

IF the poems are very old and were either not copyrighted, or the copyright lapsed, or the copyright has expired (the expiry date is not easy to calculate) and thus the poems are in the public domain, you can use them. If not write the publisher and ask about licensing them.