Copyright Issue

Nabeel · 01-15-2022, 05:06 AM

I'm writing a study of a Creative Writing group which was started in 1947. One thread that I find really interesting is a poet who published her work in the 1970s: obviously, here, I mean real books on real paper. I'm writing a short study of her and her work. (There may have been some book reviews of her in the 1970s, but this could well be the first study ever of her.)

My question: as it's less than 50 years since her poems were published, I believe they're still covered by copyright. Under these circumstances, I am allowed to quote short extracts from her poems (say: one line here, four words there) in my study; but I cannot reproduce the whole of one of her poems. Perhaps I should add that I'm working in the UK. Have I understood the legal context correctly?

To follow the law, in order to reproduce the whole of one of her poems, I'd need to contact her Estate, and ask permission. Is this correct? (But how do I find her Estate - if it exists at all?)

On the other hand - the press which published her disappeared in the 1980s and absolutely nobody seems to remember her. Would anyone notice if I copied out one or two of her poems? On balance, I'm inclined to play it safe.

Any advice on these topics would be very welcome,

Thank you in advance,

Nabeel

Quoth · 01-15-2022, 12:11 PM

Fair use allows quotes for reviews and teaching but not in a novel without written permission.
Fair use rules vary a lot between countries.

If you are publishing a complete poem or even extracts (like after chapter headings) you need to play safe. If it's only in your group and Disney doesn't own it, then it's usually OK.

So even to quote from Macbeth or the Bible even in chapter headings (eg preambles) you need to download a true public domain work (not from archive.org!).

This isn't the best site to ask as the site is primarily about ereader use.

01-15-2022, 05:06 AM	#1
Nabeel Zealot Posts: 147 Karma: 2747136 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Britain Device: Kobo Aura One	Copyright Issue I'm writing a study of a Creative Writing group which was started in 1947. One thread that I find really interesting is a poet who published her work in the 1970s: obviously, here, I mean real books on real paper. I'm writing a short study of her and her work. (There may have been some book reviews of her in the 1970s, but this could well be the first study ever of her.) My question: as it's less than 50 years since her poems were published, I believe they're still covered by copyright. Under these circumstances, I am allowed to quote short extracts from her poems (say: one line here, four words there) in my study; but I cannot reproduce the whole of one of her poems. Perhaps I should add that I'm working in the UK. Have I understood the legal context correctly? To follow the law, in order to reproduce the whole of one of her poems, I'd need to contact her Estate, and ask permission. Is this correct? (But how do I find her Estate - if it exists at all?) On the other hand - the press which published her disappeared in the 1980s and absolutely nobody seems to remember her. Would anyone notice if I copied out one or two of her poems? On balance, I'm inclined to play it safe. Any advice on these topics would be very welcome, Thank you in advance, Nabeel

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01-15-2022, 12:11 PM	#2
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,779 Karma: 103895653 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Fair use allows quotes for reviews and teaching but not in a novel without written permission. Fair use rules vary a lot between countries. If you are publishing a complete poem or even extracts (like after chapter headings) you need to play safe. If it's only in your group and Disney doesn't own it, then it's usually OK. So even to quote from Macbeth or the Bible even in chapter headings (eg preambles) you need to download a true public domain work (not from archive.org!). This isn't the best site to ask as the site is primarily about ereader use.

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