Taking quotes from a book?

[nym9]

What is the name of your state? NY

I am considering a book that will be made up entirely of quotes from other books.

An example would be writing a book called "Stephen King's Maine", and it will include every Stephen King reference to Maine, from his many books.

Would this violate copyright law?

 

[JETX]

Would this violate copyright law?

Depends on how you use them.....

For example... if you write a book that says: "In his book called 'It', Stephen King used the word Maine on pages 34, 68, 121, 178 and 251."
No problem, though I doubt anyone would pay for this information.

However, if you actually provide the text (phrase, sentence, paragraph, etc.) that Stephen King wrote (his 'product')... problem.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

This is the best description of copyright law I've seen. Posted yesterday by one of the seniors:

Fair use starts with a person's use of copyrighted material in a belief that their use is fair, continues with a copyright owner's lawsuit saying the use is not fair, and ends when a court determines if the use is fair or not.

 

[nym9]

However, if you actually provide the text (phrase, sentence, paragraph, etc.) that Stephen King wrote (his 'product')... problem.

Thats exactly what it would be, direct quotes, as the purpose of the book would be a collection of excerpts from the many "Stephen King" books. It would be a non-fiction reference book comprising sentences and paragraphs about Maine from Stephen Kings novels (in this example).

 

[quincy]

Even Bartlett's Familiar Quotations gets permission to use copyrighted material in their quotation books, although these are considered non-fiction reference books.

Permission to use individual selections from copyrighted books should be obtained from the original publisher or copyright holder, to ensure your book does not infringe on the rights of the copyright owners. Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage can be consulted to see what cautions you should observe when using the copyrighted words of others.

 

[JETX]

Thats exactly what it would be, direct quotes

You will need to sell each book for THOUSANDS of dollars... in order to have enough money to waste on a copyright lawsuit filed by Stephen King and his publisher. And even then, you won't have enough money.

 

[nym9]

Permission to use individual selections from copyrighted books should be obtained from the original publisher or copyright holder, to ensure your book does not infringe on the rights of the copyright owners.

How does the permission work, is it granted for each individual quote, or does it encompass an entire category to be used (in this example, whenever Stephen King mentions Maine)?

 

[quincy]

When you contact the copyright owner (and in your example it would be either Stephen King or his publisher), you ask for a license to use whatever material you want to use. It is up to the copyright owner to decide what and how much (if any) material he will license you to use, and for what purpose you will be allowed to use it.

A license can be tailored in various ways and restricted in various ways. It is a contract between the copyright owner and the licensee, and the parties determine the agreement. There are exclusive licenses or nonexclusive licenses.

An exclusive license authorizes another person to exclusively exercise one or more of the rights (or a portion of the rights) that belong to the copyright owner. The licensee, then, would be said to "own" the rights granted, and would be, in essense, the copyright owner of those particular rights. All references to Maine and the quotes in the books, therefore, would belong exclusively to you and no one else could use them without infringing on your rights. This license is a valid contract and MUST be in writing.

A nonexclusive license is one where a copyright owner authorizes another person to exercise one or more of the rights (or a portion of the rights) that belong to the copyright owner, but there is no transfer of ownership of the copyright. In other words, you could be granted permission to use all quotes on Maine for one book, but King could grant the same rights to others, and he still owns the rights to the quotes on Maine - if you were to use them for some reason other than in the single book, he could sue you for infringement. Although this license does not have to be in writing, it is generally in writing to protect all parties.

If a license to use copyrighted material is granted by the copyright owner, the license should be recorded with the U.S. Copyright Office.

With your Stephen King example, as JetX noted, seeking a license to use the material would be a necessity, as you would not want to be sued by Stephen King.

 

[nym9]

When you contact the copyright owner (and in your example it would be either Stephen King or his publisher), you ask for a license to use whatever material you want to use. It is up to the copyright owner to decide what and how much (if any) material he will license you to use, and for what purpose you will be allowed to use it.

Thanks for that info. Are arrangements common where the copyright owner gets a percentage of the profits in such a book that uses its material, and if so, are these paid arrangements with exclusive or non-exclusive licenses?

 

[quincy]

I don't know how common it is for a licensee to share the profits with the copyright owner, but it could be a possible term agreed to by both.

The purchase of an exclusive license in King's work would be prohibitively expensive for the average person, so if these rights were purchased, I imagine the licensee would probably want to keep all of the profits for himself.

What you would be looking at for your purposes, however, would be a non-exclusive license, granting you the rights to use some of the copyrighted material in a limited way for your book, but without purchasing the copyright to the work itself. For this type of license, it would again be possible to arrange for a portion of any profits made on your book to be given the copyright owner.

However, in your initial request for permission to use the copyrighted material, you should not offer compensation of any kind. The costs involved in obtaining a license (if any) will be determined by the amount of material you wish to use, the nature of your use (ie. educational or commercial), the value of the copyrighted work . . . the copyright owner will determine the fee. The licensing fee can be negotiable (and one of the negotiating factors could be the mention of a percentage of the profits).

You would probably be wise to have any licensing agreement reviewed by an attorney prior to signing, so that you are sure that what you need to have covered in the license is covered adequately.

You may also want to have an agreement which spells out what uses, if any, can be made of the copyright owner's name and/or image in the promotion of your book. Your use of the quotes on Maine taken from King's books, for instance, may be limited to the use of the Maine quotes only, and only within the pages of the book. Therefore, while you may be granted a license to use the copyrighted material inside a book, you may be restricted from using quotes on the cover of your book or in ads, or prohibited from using "Stephen King's Maine" or something similar as your title, or you may be restricted from using King's name or image on the cover of your book or in any promotional ads for your book.

The use of his name and image would be a publicity/property rights issue and separate from the copyright issue, and to use these would require an additional agreement. The license we are talking about in these posts would cover only the copyrighted material you would be using.

If you feel the use of the writer's name and/or image is an important part of your proposed book, you should work all of this out in advance with the author.

Again, all contracts and licenses are tailored to the licensee/party's needs and limited only by what the copyright owner/other party will and will not agree to. Going over your specific needs with an IP attorney should be number one on your list of things to do.

More information on obtaining permission to use copyrighted material can be found at the Copyright Clearance Center - www.copyright.gov - and you can look online for sample "permission" letters, so you can see what should be included, and what should not be included, in the letter. Some good permission letter samples are available on Yale's website and at www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty.permmm.htm.