Quoting Copyrighted Work

Quoting Copyrighted Work Quoting Copyrighted Work Quoting Copyrighted Work By Jacquelyn Landis One of the most common questions writers have is, how much of someone else’s work can you quote without securing reprint permission? Can you quote a stanza from a poem? A paragraph from a magazine article? A page from a novel? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t as clear as we might wish. It lies somewhere within the fair use doctrine of U.S. copyright law. The original intent of copyright law was to protect a writer’s work from someone else using and profiting from it. The framers of this law, however, didn’t want it to be so rigid that it prevented reasonable public use of copyrighted works. Hence, the fair use doctrine was written. In a nutshell, these are the factors you must consider when deciding whether it’s okay to quote without permission: 1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes. 2. The nature of the copyrighted work. 3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole. 4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work. (U.S. Code, Title 17, Section 107) As you can see, these factors are not clearly defined. A common myth is that writers are free to use 400 words from a book, 50 words from an article, or two lines from a poem or song, and it constitutes fair use. This is not true. In reality, fair use can only be determined by the court. And if you’re already in court, you’re in trouble. Song lyrics are particularly troublesome as the music industry is aggressive about protecting songwriters. Typically, you need reprint permission to use even a single line from a song. What this means to writers is that you should always be mindful of the fair use doctrine and take great care to seek reprint permission if you have any doubt. Furthermore, anytime you quote from someone else’s work, be sure to properly attribute it. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals50 Diminutive Suffixes (and a Cute Little Prefix)30 Words Invented by Shakespeare