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In my current project, I have a character who quotes a few lines of Chinese poetry, written by the poet Li Shang-Yin during the ninth century CE. I've found several contradictory rules. (In my book, I actually quote the author's name into the dialogue.)
Does anyone have any experience or know 100% what is legal to do without permissions and what is not? I've heard/read under 300 words, 3 lines, etc.. but where can I find a validated, steadfast policy?
http://janefriedman.com/2012/01/23/permissions/ Jane Friedman posts this:
When do you NOT need to seek permission?
•When the work is in public domain. This isn't a terribly easy thing to determine, but any work published before 1923 is in the public domain. Some works published after 1923 are also in the public domain. Read this guide from Stanford about how to determine if a work is in the public domain.
•When simply mentioning the title or author of a work. You do not need permission to mention the title of someone's work. It's like citing a fact.
•When you abide by fair use guidelines. If you're only quoting a few lines from a full-length book, you are likely within fair use guidelines, and do not need to seek permission. See more about fair use below.
•When the work is licensed under Creative Commons. If this is the case, you should see this prominently declared on the work itself as an alternative to the copyright symbol. For instance, the book Mediactive is licensed under Creative Commons, and so are many sites and blogs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/opinion/when-quoting-verse-one-must-be-terse.html?_r=0
If you think I need permissions, where would I start with a deceased author? His work is in LOTS of publications, meaning many publishers.
Does anyone have any experience or know 100% what is legal to do without permissions and what is not? I've heard/read under 300 words, 3 lines, etc.. but where can I find a validated, steadfast policy?
http://janefriedman.com/2012/01/23/permissions/ Jane Friedman posts this:
When do you NOT need to seek permission?
•When the work is in public domain. This isn't a terribly easy thing to determine, but any work published before 1923 is in the public domain. Some works published after 1923 are also in the public domain. Read this guide from Stanford about how to determine if a work is in the public domain.
•When simply mentioning the title or author of a work. You do not need permission to mention the title of someone's work. It's like citing a fact.
•When you abide by fair use guidelines. If you're only quoting a few lines from a full-length book, you are likely within fair use guidelines, and do not need to seek permission. See more about fair use below.
•When the work is licensed under Creative Commons. If this is the case, you should see this prominently declared on the work itself as an alternative to the copyright symbol. For instance, the book Mediactive is licensed under Creative Commons, and so are many sites and blogs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/opinion/when-quoting-verse-one-must-be-terse.html?_r=0
If you think I need permissions, where would I start with a deceased author? His work is in LOTS of publications, meaning many publishers.