Copyright-Protected Material

and Requesting Permission for Its Use

It is very important that you understand that if you have used copyrighted text, images, art, screenshots, song
or poem lyrics, or other content elements from any other source (printed, online, or in any other form) in
your book, you must have permission to use those items from the copyright holder. In limited circumstances,
the Fair Use doctrine may apply—so that you are not required to obtain permission. However, navigating the
waters of what constitutes Fair Use can be confusing and unclear.

Many authors are familiar with the term “Fair Use,” but few truly understand its implications. This term does
not mean that you have the right to use copyrighted materials as you see fit. Under the Fair Use doctrine,
certain minimal, commercially insignificant portions of a copyrighted work can be copied, quoted, or
paraphrased for purposes of comment, criticism, illustration, or education. (See The Chicago Manual of Style,
15th edition, for more information on Fair Use.)

The law does not always provide clear and definitive guidelines for what constitutes Fair Use, so the
publishing industry has tried to create guidelines for authors to follow. This document offers a brief overview
of those guidelines. Keep in mind, however, that these guidelines are not definitive, exhaustive, or
conclusive and should not be considered legal advice. Following these guidelines does NOT ensure
that you will not be in violation of copyright laws if you use copyrighted materials without obtaining
permission from the copyright holder. The information contained in these guidelines is not a
substitute for consulting with a lawyer regarding your use of any copyrighted materials. If you have
questions or concerns about the content in your manuscript, you should consult an attorney. If you
are not sure if your use of certain material would be considered Fair Use, you should err on the side
of caution and obtain permission.

INDUSTRY GUIDELINES
The following is a noncomprehensive list of examples of materials that you should obtain permission to
use:
• Materials representing a significant portion of the original work or of your new work
• Materials that represent the core ideas presented in the original material
• A single quotation or several shorter quotations of more than 300 words in toto from a full-length
book or a single quotation of more than 50 words from a newspaper, magazine, or journal article
o NOTE that use of less than these word counts does not necessarily mean that such use is
considered Fair Use or that you should not obtain permission for use.
• Material that includes all or part of a poem or song lyric, even as little as one line.
• Figures, charts, tables, and other types of graphical representation of information, even if you are not
using the entirety of the item (for example, maybe you are only using half of a table)
o NOTE that this includes items that you have adapted or enhanced to better fit your needs as
long as the item still looks like the original and contains most of the same information
• Photographs and other forms of art that have been taken from a previously published source
o NOTE also that sometimes more than one permission is required for some types of artwork.
If a photo was taken of a particular piece of art, you would have to obtain permission from
the photographer and from the artist of the work that was photographed.
• Images showing representations of online or computer-based information, for example images of
Web pages, screen shots of any type of software, or graphs that were generated by online or
 computer databases, etc. Some websites post statements on their sites granting broad use of their
content, which releases others from needing to request permission.
• If you are producing a CD with your book, you must request permission from the copyright holder
of any third-party software that will be included on that CD (for example, if you were going to
include the software for Adobe PDF Reader, you would need permission from Adobe to do so)
• Images of brand name products or logos
• Photos of people, especially private citizens
• Interviews conducted for publication (you must at least notify the person that they are being
interviewed for publication)

Material that typically doesn’t generally require permission for use includes
• Certain government publications
• Materials in the public domain, such as those for which the copyright has expired

IMPORTANT NOTE: Regardless of whether or not you need to obtain permission for use of certain
material, you should always give credit to the original publication/author/copyright holder when using facts,
information, or ideas from another source. Note that this does not include widely known concepts, theories,
or ideas or truly factual information.

THE PERMISSIONS PROCESS

It is critical for you to request permission as early as possible in the development process, even if you aren’t
sure that you are going to use certain materials. The permission process can take months and if you wait until
later in the production process, the project will be held up by the lack of permissions. You can withhold
payment of the permission fee until you are certain that you are going to include the material. If you decide
not to use it, you can just send the copyright holder an email indicating that the material will not be used.

When requesting permission to use certain materials, the first step is to identify the copyright holder. It is
essential that you correctly identify the copyright holder and obtain permission from the correct copyright
holder. Sometimes, there are multiple copyright holders, in which case you need to obtain permission from
each copyright holder.
• In the case of books, typically the copyright holder is the publisher, but sometimes (as is the case
with GBG Press books) the author is the copyright holder.
• With magazines and journals, the magazine or journal is typically the copyright holder.
• For content on the Web, typically the publishing website is the copyright holder, but the author of
the content may retain the copyright, or the item may have been reposted from another source.

Once you’ve identified the copyright holder(s), you should identify the contact for requesting permission.
Most publishers, magazines, journals, and major informational websites have an entire department
responsible for processing permissions requests. Simply go to the website of the organization and they will
likely have posted the information you need to contact the person responsible for handling permission
requests. Today, most organizations handle permissions requests via email, making it even easier to request
permission. If you need to obtain the author’s approval, the publisher will usually let you know and give you
direct contact information or let you know that they’ve forwarded your request on to the author.

You will probably be asked to submit a letter or form with specific information. Be prepared to provide the
following:
• Your name
• The name of the book
• How many copies will be printed
• What types of rights you are requesting: North American, World, English language, translation (you
will typically have to specify which languages), print only, print and electronic, etc.
 • Specific information about the original material such as the following:
o Authors and/or editors
o Title, including title of selection within larger work
o Copyright date
o Publication date or issue (particularly for newspapers, magazines, journals)
o Page number
o URL if still valid for online content
o Exact description of material to be used
• You will likely be asked to submit a photocopy of the original material and a photocopy or
manuscript page of the material showing how it is being used in your book.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE PERMISSION LETTER

Once you have requested permission and have received either a signed copy of your letter or a form letter
granting permission, you will need to do the following:
• Pay the fee quoted by the copyright holder for use. IMPORTANT NOTE: Until you pay the
permission fee, you do not have permission to use the material.
• Make copies of the letter for your records and send a copy of that letter and a copy of the material in
the original publication to your contact at Greenleaf.
• Follow the instructions provided in the permission letter, including specific language to use in the
source line and sending copies of the final published book confirming actual use of the material
• Make sure that the source line for the material, if not specified by the permission grantor, includes
the full information for the original publication, the copyright year, and the line “Reprinted by
permission of [permission grantor]”
Example: Reprinted by permission of Timothy Koegel, The Exceptional Presenter: A Proven Formula
to Open Up and Own the Room (Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2007), 27. Copyright ©
2007 by Timothy J. Koegel.

A FINAL NOTE
Copyright infringement can have severe consequences. If you’re ever in doubt about whether you are
permitted to use certain materials, you should consult with a lawyer. By not infringing on others’ copyrights,
you emphasize your credibility as an author and inspire others to request permission when using materials
from your book.