Following these instructions helps us ensure that any previously copyrighted material is properly acknowledged in your book.
Basics
According to the contract you signed, you are responsible for getting permission to reprint any copyrighted work used in your book.
Complete photocopies of all grants of permission must accompany the final manuscript when you submit it to the press. The press will not begin copyediting the manuscript until you have submitted all of the permission forms.
Getting permission to use copyrighted works may take several months. Start early and be persistent.
When Do You Need to Ask Permission?
Permission is required for the use of two kinds of copyrighted materials: your own previously published work (when you no longer hold the copyright) and other authors' copyrighted materials that do not come under the principle of fair use or that are not in the public domain.
If your use qualifies fair use or if the material is in the public domain, you do not need to get the copyright holder’s permission.
Fair Use
The principle of fair use allows certain uses of copyrighted material without requiring the user to get the permission of the copyright holder. Quoting or reproducing small amounts of an author’s or artist’s work in order to review or criticize it or to illustrate the user’s own argument is fair use.
However, in many cases determining exactly what is covered by fair use depends on the circumstances of use. In law a “rule of reason” determines whether a particular use is fair or not.
Important factors in determining whether a particular use is fair include the following:
The use is probably fair if:
Public Domain
In the United States, copyright exists for a term set by law. After that term expires, everyone may freely use the material—it has entered the public domain.
However, the law changed in important ways in the twentieth century, so figuring out what is in the public domain and what remains protected by copyright can be confusing. Works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain. You do not need anyone’s permission to use them.
For more recent works, see the AAUP’s Permissions FAQs.
The AAUP also offers online resources for determining a work’s copyright status.
Some documents are in the public domain from the start, such as those created by the US federal government.
When You Must Get the Copyright Holder’s Permission
In general, you need to obtain written permission for the following items:
Preparing permission requests
Please use the sample letter as the basis for your requests. When you prepare your permission requests, be sure to ask for:
Also include in the letter:
Have all letters of permission sent directly to you. You will need them to type up the permissions section of your book and put the required attribution information in any captions.
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What to send to the University of Iowa Press
Please send us photocopies of both your request and the response. We need to see complete copies of the permissions forms—including front and back sides and lists of terms and conditions that may be attached—so we can be sure to follow all the conditions of use, including adding correct credit lines, following any cropping instructions, and sending appropriate gratis copies of your book.
Also be sure to send us a list of the names, addresses, and number of copies due to the various museums, libraries, publishers, and writers who have requested them.
Resources
Association of American University Presses
Patricia Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, Reclaiming Fair Use: How to Put Balance Back in Copyright (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2011)
Susan M. Bielstein, Permissions, A Survival Guide: Blunt Talk about Art as Intellectual Property (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2006)
Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010)
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Poetry
Copyright Term and Public Domain in the United States
National Association of College Stores
William S. Strong, The Copyright Book: A Practical Guide, 5th ed. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999)
United States Copyright Office
WATCH (Writers, Artists, and Their Copyright Holders) File
If you have further questions or concerns, please contact your acquiring editor.