Because publishers can have a different take on copyright law than professors (as I have read), it would be nice if someone were to give a general guide to what is expected, and what is and is not acceptable, from a publisher's perspective. For example (I personally want to know):
In my own case, I'm putting together a study Bible which uses public domain content and some copyrighted content. The Bible text itself is public domain, and smaller bits of public domain content is used in the form of quotations, translations, paraphrases, etc. in the various extra (study) content. The copyrighted content is limited to paraphrases, summaries, and perhaps even a quotation or two in the extra (study) content.
(Note: I was hoping to either start a sticky about this post's title, or inspire one. I didn't see any stickied posts that directly address what publishers think of quoting, paraphrasing, etc, and I'm sure one would be very helpful, especially to those of us who have never published a book before.)
- Do short paraphrases and summaries of copyrighted text (sentences, paragraphs) need explicit permission like quotes do?
- What about small pieces of translated text (or other derivatives) from copyrighted works? Should these be treated as quotations?
- Do publishers have any objections to using public domain works? (What kind of evidence do they want for a work's public domain status? Do they avoid using any public domain content whatsoever? What about modern works submitted to the public domain?)
- What about the exceptions some works give on their copyright page? (For example, "permission is not necessary if text is limited to X amount," "permission is not necessary for the following uses.")
In my own case, I'm putting together a study Bible which uses public domain content and some copyrighted content. The Bible text itself is public domain, and smaller bits of public domain content is used in the form of quotations, translations, paraphrases, etc. in the various extra (study) content. The copyrighted content is limited to paraphrases, summaries, and perhaps even a quotation or two in the extra (study) content.
(Note: I was hoping to either start a sticky about this post's title, or inspire one. I didn't see any stickied posts that directly address what publishers think of quoting, paraphrasing, etc, and I'm sure one would be very helpful, especially to those of us who have never published a book before.)
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