May I Have Your Permission, Please?

The time has come for you to make some decisions. Exactly what rights are you asking for in your permissions request? It’s not good enough to just send out a general request asking for “permission” to use someone else’s material. You must spell out exactly what rights you need.

Although it makes sense to ask for as much as possible, keep in mind that publishers charge fees for rights, and the more rights requested the higher the fee will be.

So, what are your choices? Since I work predominantly with college textbooks, I’ve somewhat narrowed the choices to those listed below. Have I left things out? Yes. But the majority of permissions requests related to books fall into these categories.

Territory
In what territory will your work be distributed? Standard choices are:
U.S., its Territories & Possessions only
U.S., its Territories & Possessions, and Canada
North America (includes all North American countries)
World

Language
English only
English + translation into another language
Only a language other than English

Formats
Electronic    NOTE: Electronic rights choices will be reviewed in a separate post.
Print
- Book, fiction (genre)
- Book, non-fiction (genre)
- Textbook (college, high school, middle school, etc.)
- Hardcover, softcover, or spiralbound
- Magazine or Journal
- Dissertation

Editions
All future editions including revisions and ancillaries (I always ask for these rights. If rights are granted for all future editions, then permission won’t have to be asked for in the future.)
This edition only (Smart authors and publishers normally grant permission for this edition only. Then, if there are future editions, permission will have to be obtained again, and another fee paid.
Braille and other non-profit editions for the disabled (Again, I always ask for this. There is usually no fee for this right.)

Every time I start a new project, one of my first steps is to ask the client to spell out exactly what rights are needed for this project. My suggestion? Keep this list in a handy place where you can refer to it easily.

© 2009 Anne Wallingford. All Rights Reserved.

Once you’ve determined who owns the copyright and how to contact the copyright holder, you’re ready to prepare your permissions request.

When I do permissions requests I prepare a two-page request that includes an introductory letter and a fill-in-the-blank form. If I know I’ll be filling out an online form I’ll skip the letter but I still prepare the form. Why? The form gives me a handy reference tool for when I need to do follow-ups or send requests to additional and/or alternate sources.

For example, I’ve submitted my permissions request to The Southwestern Journal of Anthropology without a problem. But when I receive the Journal’s contract, the contract specifies that the contract is only valid if I have also obtained permission from the article’s author.  Because I have kept a copy of my request letter and form on the computer, all I need to do is change the contact information, save and print out the newly revised request, and send it on its way.

Being organized has its rewards!

In the next series of posts I will go over what is needed in the introductory letter and the form.

© 2009 Anne Wallingford. All Rights Reserved.

The Sonny Bono Term Extension Act, signed into law on Oct. 27, 1998, basically extends copyright protection for an additional 20 years.

In other words, works created and published after Jan. 1, 1978 are now protected under copyright law for the author’s life plus 70 years. If the work was published anonymously, or under an untraceable pseudonym, the work is protected for 95 years from the first year of publication or 120 years from the year it was created, whichever comes first.

For works created and published before Jan. 1, 1978, and still under their original or renewal copyright terms, the copyright is extended for 95 years from the date of the original term. For example, if a work was copyrighted in 1923, the work is still protected by copyright until 2018.

For in-depth information about U.S. Copyright Law you can go directly to the U.S. Copyright Office at http://www.copyright.gov/.

© 2009 Anne Wallingford. All Rights Reserved.