Mild proposal guidance on copyright and feasability...
Talk Consensus Press
Join LibraryThing to post.
1grifgon
I've been receiving a few queries from members around copyright and feasibility. Here's a quick primer.
Mild guidance on copyright...
If it was published before 1930, it's in the public domain.
If it was published after 1930, it's likely to be under copyright. Copyright can be a mess and it can be surprisingly difficult to even discern who owns a certain copyright. So, once you've opened the copyright box there's no knowing what's inside. However, here are some "rules of thumb" which can help guide you.
If the writer is living and can be reached directly, copyright is generally easy to clear.
If the writer is living and cannot be reached directly, it's anybody's guess and might take a while.
If the writer is deceased and their work is represented by a large agency or publisher, copyright is often easy to clear – but takes time.
If the writer is deceased and their work is represented by a small agency, estate, or publisher, it's anybody's guess and might take a while.
Look at the books on your bookshelf. Anything that is a part of a book will be easier to get permission for than the whole book. In other words, a short story, or three short stories, will be easier to clear than the whole short story collection. A single essay will be easier than the book of essays, etc. In fact, the copyright holders often have different methods of handling "permissions" (parts of their property) than "rights" (the entirety of their property), the latter being much more stringent.
Mild guidance on feasibility and pricing...
A decent way of judging whether your idea is feasible is to do the obvious: see whether an idea like yours has recently been published by a fine press.
Your point of comparison should fit the essential criteria, however:
(a) of similar length to your idea
(b) published in an edition size of around 100 or thereabouts (the size of our membership)
(c) made using contracted labor
(d) a single state-state edition
If you can find a point of comparison that fits all four criteria, then your idea is definitely feasible.
If you can find a point of comparison that fits three of the criteria, then your idea is likely feasible, but might cost more than your point of comparison.
If you can't find a point of comparison that fits at least three of these criteria, then your idea might not be feasible.
Mild guidance on copyright...
If it was published before 1930, it's in the public domain.
If it was published after 1930, it's likely to be under copyright. Copyright can be a mess and it can be surprisingly difficult to even discern who owns a certain copyright. So, once you've opened the copyright box there's no knowing what's inside. However, here are some "rules of thumb" which can help guide you.
If the writer is living and can be reached directly, copyright is generally easy to clear.
If the writer is living and cannot be reached directly, it's anybody's guess and might take a while.
If the writer is deceased and their work is represented by a large agency or publisher, copyright is often easy to clear – but takes time.
If the writer is deceased and their work is represented by a small agency, estate, or publisher, it's anybody's guess and might take a while.
Look at the books on your bookshelf. Anything that is a part of a book will be easier to get permission for than the whole book. In other words, a short story, or three short stories, will be easier to clear than the whole short story collection. A single essay will be easier than the book of essays, etc. In fact, the copyright holders often have different methods of handling "permissions" (parts of their property) than "rights" (the entirety of their property), the latter being much more stringent.
Mild guidance on feasibility and pricing...
A decent way of judging whether your idea is feasible is to do the obvious: see whether an idea like yours has recently been published by a fine press.
Your point of comparison should fit the essential criteria, however:
(a) of similar length to your idea
(b) published in an edition size of around 100 or thereabouts (the size of our membership)
(c) made using contracted labor
(d) a single state-state edition
If you can find a point of comparison that fits all four criteria, then your idea is definitely feasible.
If you can find a point of comparison that fits three of the criteria, then your idea is likely feasible, but might cost more than your point of comparison.
If you can't find a point of comparison that fits at least three of these criteria, then your idea might not be feasible.
2consensuspress
Thanks for that primer!
And I'd like to also remind everyone that for getting permissions, a good place to start is the Copyright Clearance Center. If you can find your target work there, then you're off to the races. If not, well...you may have quite a task ahead of you.
And I'd like to also remind everyone that for getting permissions, a good place to start is the Copyright Clearance Center. If you can find your target work there, then you're off to the races. If not, well...you may have quite a task ahead of you.
Join to post
