Free Use Question

[ajabbiati]

Hey all,

I'm currently wrestling with a tough decision. I'm writing a book on prose construction, which I plan to indie pub through my own company. I would like to use a slew of quotes (20-30) from published works, each no longer than a single page, which I will then dissect, critique, and comment on in regards to my own prose construction process. In similar books on writing, I've often seen the authors get permission for these kind of quotes. Based on everything I've read about free use, this shouldn't be needed. I certainly would like to mitigate any future problems by getting permission, even though I don't think I need it, but I've heard the process is lengthy, difficult, and often ends with the publisher wanting a payment for the use. As an alternative, I could significantly alter the specific word choices within the quotes (rendering the quote unrecognizable to the original, and therefore void of copyright issues), while maintaining the structural essence, but then I'd lose the impact of illustrating how certain pros accomplish certain things with their prose. So, I'm torn between attempting to get permission from 20-30 sources, using the quotes without permission (but with citations, of course), and altering the quotes.

Anyone have any experience with this, or thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

A. J. Abbiati
ajabbiati.com

[Carradee]

Because the purpose is critique, that should fall under the "fair use" clause (I'm assuming you're US?)—but I'm no lawyer. That's just how I've read the actual rules. For all I know, the practical application has ended up different. And all it takes is the copyright owner contesting that it isn't fair use to start an expensive and time-consuming legal process, which is probably why folks get permission.

Can you use examples from classics no longer under copyright or modern creative commons works?

[ajabbiati]

Correct, and the problem here is that fair use is not a right. It's a defense against a copyright suit. So the only way to know for sure is to get sued and have a judge make the call. Boy does that suck.

I could use either. But the classics tend to use only two of the three modes of prose construction. They rarely use the third, as the third is a much more modern approach. And, unless I'm mistaken, using creative commons works would sort of lose the impact I'd get from illustrating prose from writers people want to either understand better or emulate...i.e. the pros. Given all that, I'd probably lean toward disguising the quote, making it contentually unrecognizable, and saying the quote came from "a best-selling thriller author."

Not sure there's an easy answer here....

[Carradee]

You could also at least try to get in touch with some big-names you'd like to use to ask. Some of 'em are approachable; just make sure it's clearly phrased in writing, so you have proof.

(Again, not a lawyer, here.)

ETA: Some authors provide free side stories, too, on their websites or blogs or to an e-mail list. That could also be a source for clips. Just off the top of my head, I know CE Murphy and Rachel Caine have released free stories, before.

[antheal]

Also, if you are going to negatively dissect some of those works, well... I'd be careful. Public domain might be your best bet. Or at the very least, permission. And I'd bet that a lot of authors will gladly give you permission~

[jeanfrese]

Of course, public domain could have its own problems. Dissecting the opening to a Tale of Two Cities could be very interesting. Expect venomous attacks from Lit teachers. Then again, it could be publicity...

[ajabbiati]

Lit teachers have been getting it wrong for years....hence the book. ;-)

I did do more research on the topic. Apparently there's no easy answer, and the only real way to know if you've used Fair Use correctly is to get sued and win.

But, I read in L. Jassin's book on copyright permission that some publishing houses have a set number of words they will allow for fair use quotes. I'm off to see if I can find those places. I'm just using too many quotes to make getting mitigating permission feasible, not to mention the fees for using something that should be free. If I can't find some reasonable publishers (I can see you all laughing as I write this), then I'll have to disguise the quotes and go with that option...