It doesn't matter if it's going to be challenged in court or not. The law is easy to read and understand. You are giving out patently incorrect information here (saying no permission is needed for a quote of less than a paragraph) and trying to justify it by saying, in effect, that it's ok to potentially break the law because you probably won't get caught. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
What is the Deal with Permission to Quote?
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It doesn't matter if it's going to be challenged in court or not. The law is easy to read and understand. You are giving out patently incorrect information here (saying no permission is needed for a quote of less than a paragraph) and trying to justify it by saying, in effect, that it's ok to potentially break the law because you probably won't get caught. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
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First, I have to know, what is a 'literary lawyer?' That's been bugging me. One who's well read?
Second, your basic argument seems to be 'violate the law, what's the likelihood someone will sue?' With a coda that you seem to feel like looking like you kind of thought you weren't violating people's copyrights might make people less inclined to question whether you did.
I came to this thread looking for clarity on exactly the questions raised here, which I think Medievalist has answered for me. Thank you.
If I may, can I hi-jack this discussion by asking another question?
I'm preparing a proposal for a non-fiction book. It's on a subject that I'm very familiar with and which I've researched pretty thoroughly. But giving talks on it is not the same as putting it down on paper, so I've gone back to my original research to in order to check my facts.
My question is this: I'm not quoting from academic articles, nor am I citing them but I am describing a set of behaviors that have been documented in many studies, by many academics. Do I need to ask for permission from anyone for this?
Example: 'Not all schoolyard bullies go on to commit violent crimes, but many do.' This has been documented by at least 13 studies internationally. I can put several of those studies in a 'Reference page', but do I need permission from each one?
If I may, can I hi-jack this discussion by asking another question?
I'm preparing a proposal for a non-fiction book. It's on a subject that I'm very familiar with and which I've researched pretty thoroughly. But giving talks on it is not the same as putting it down on paper, so I've gone back to my original research to in order to check my facts.
My question is this: I'm not quoting from academic articles, nor am I citing them but I am describing a set of behaviors that have been documented in many studies, by many academics. Do I need to ask for permission from anyone for this?
Example: 'Not all schoolyard bullies go on to commit violent crimes, but many do.' This has been documented by at least 13 studies internationally. I can put several of those studies in a 'Reference page', but do I need permission from each one?
Gail: If you're not quoting, you don't need permission. If all you're doing is citing the studies to make your point, then all you need to do is attribute. Personally, I footnote/endnote everything. Direct citations, rather than a general references page, helps others trace and even doublecheck my work.
Copyright and permissions only come into play when you're using someone else's words. The ideas and research results cannot be copyrighted - only the words the researchers used in reporting their study. If you re-characterize it in your own words, you don't need permission.
Copyright and permissions only come into play when you're using someone else's words. The ideas and research results cannot be copyrighted - only the words the researchers used in reporting their study. If you re-characterize it in your own words, you don't need permission.
Thank you so much for this. It's what I thought - but I had a sudden attack of the 'doubts' and got to second-guessing myself.
I'm not sure if I should use footnotes/endnotes. The book is about 'bullyproofing' SA schools but most S. Africans don't have English as a first language, so I'm aiming for an easy-to-follow narrative style that parents and teachers will be comfortable with. I'm a little concerned that references (*1) might interrupt the flow. I guess I'll leave that decision to the publisher - if I'm lucky enough to snag one of those.
Thank you, again.
One citation style that avoids that problem involves pages of notes at the end of the book keyed to page numbers and phrases. They'd look something like this:
55: the army marched north, foraging off the land ...: General MacArthur's combat journal, p. 24.
55: the army marched north, foraging off the land ...: General MacArthur's combat journal, p. 24.
Thanks, JournoWriter. That makes a lot of sense. I've been keeping my list of references in a separate document, but keying them to the chapters. I thought I would just cut and paste them in at the end of the book. I shall have to rethink this.
Sheesh. Writing my novel was soooo much easier.
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Out of curiosity, do trade publishers have a way of doing that automatically with software? Most of my footnotes are the regular superscript kind, but I have a few "see page 123" cross-references, and the university press I'm working with is having me insert those manually when they send the proofs. If every footnote were that way, it would be a nightmare!