Permission to reprint published material: How-to guide

Research and writing, whether business, academic, legal, or commercial, doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Books and essays are often based on previously published writings and may draw heavily from those works. However, previously published materials, including journal articles, essays, and other written content, are usually protected by copyright. With certain exceptions for academic or personal use, US copyright law prohibits using copyrighted material without the owner’s written permission.

The permission to reprint published material documents enables the owner to provide copyright permission to reproduce material owned or created by them. The copyright holder can be assured of its continuing ownership rights, and the requestor seeking permission will gain rights to the material it needs to move forward with publication.

Understanding copyright law

A copyright is a kind of intellectual property that protects the original work of authorship. It offers exclusive rights to the creators and authorized individuals to reproduce and control the distribution of their work. In other words, copyright protection ensures that the creators of artistic, literary, or musical works have the right to control how their work is used and prevent others from using it without permission.

If a third party uses the author’s original works without copyright permissions, it is considered copyright infringement. However, not every re-use of copyrighted materials is a copyright violation. According to the copyright laws, the following circumstances aren’t viewed as copyright infringement:  

• Copyright laws don’t protect any information available in the public domain. For example, using facts, numbers, and materials by the US government isn’t a problem.
• Sometimes, using copyrighted work is considered fair use. In other words, fair use or fair dealing applies when an original work is used for commenting, news reporting, teaching, or research.

Whether the original material is in the public domain or qualifies for a fair use exception, publishers must do their due diligence and gain permission before reprinting.

How do I seek permission for previously published material?

When you request permission to use someone else’s work, you must provide detailed information about how the material may be used and the extent to which it’ll be incorporated into the secondary publication.

The copyright owner has the right to limit the use of its property and clearly describe how the work may be used. This’ll clarify for all the parties requesting permission about the rights being given to them. For example, if one publisher is given non-exclusive world rights, it means that more than one publisher is allowed to re-use the original work.

Obtaining required permissions for embedded material in the source material

Consider that if the source material contains embedded material from another source, the requestor will be required to obtain permission from both the owner of the embedded excerpt and the owner of the source material.

If the source material contains another company’s trademark, that company’s permission will also be required. The requestor must talk to the trademark holder to determine what information is needed in obtaining permission to use it.

In most cases, you might have to pay the copyright owner a permission fee while obtaining permission and a license to use their work.

Creating permission to reprint published material document

The following instructions will help you understand the terms of your permission to reprint published materials and the step-by-step process.

1. Add details about the original publisher

Describe the original publication of the journal article. Include the author's name, the title of the piece, the title of the publication, and the date of the original publication. This date should be found in the first few pages of the work.

Include reference to the chapter, page, line opening, and closing words, and an approximate number of words. You can enclose a copy of the material to ensure both parties understand the rights being granted.

2. Provide information about the publication obtaining permissions to reprint

Write the title of the publication that’ll reprint the material. Include the author, editor, or compiler of the new work, the publisher and its address, and the use to which the material will be put. This can include a designation of the publication type (e.g., trade edition, paperback, hardback, CD-ROM, DVD, Intranet, magnetic media, etc.) and as many other details as possible about the new publication. For example, consider providing relevant information about:

• Publication date(s)
• Expected retail price
• Total expected sales (or distribution) for the (edition of) publication
• No. of pages (entire publication)
• No. of pages (requested material)
• No. of printed copies
• Circulation (e.g., countries, special markets, etc.)

3. Add the fee provided to obtain permission

In most agreements, each party is expected to do something. This obligation may be to perform a service, transfer ownership of property, or pay money.

In this case, the requestor is giving money (also called “consideration”) to use the owner’s property. The fee may vary based on the size of the material used, the use of the material (e.g., commercial, educational, etc.), and the character of the requestor (e.g., non-profit organization, government body, etc.).

4. Explain the reprint rights provided to the requestor

This section reiterates that the requested permission is to reprint the original work, and it isn’t an ownership transfer. The owner remains the owner and can transfer the material to any third party. The requestor doesn’t have the right to make any transfers.

If the reprint rights are worldwide, include that here. Based on the publication type, write ‘edition’ if the material is being published in a book or ‘volume’ if the material is published in a journal.

5. Give credits to the original owner

Credit must be given to the copyright owner in every copy of a publication in which the material appears. For example, the copyright credit can read, “Reproduced with permission from [copyright owner] [book/title/etc], copyright [year], [copyright owner].”

The requestor must give the owner a free copy of the work after it has been published. If the material is being incorporated into an electronic document, the requestor must provide a link to that document.

6. Obtain additional permissions required

If the material contains a third party’s copyrighted or trademarked work, the requestor may need to seek out third parties and obtain their permissions as well. In such cases, clarify if the requestor fails to obtain a third party’s permission; any resulting expenses or penalties will only be the requestor’s responsibility.

7. Describe the termination terms

This section mentions the reasons under which an agreement can be terminated and the responsibilities of the requestor in such an event. These can be as follows:

• Once the owner grants the permission, the requestor must republish the work within a certain time. If the requestor fails to publish the work within that time, the owner can send a notice and terminate the agreement.
• If the termination is because of wrongful action on the requestor’s part, the requestor isn’t permitted to sell off any remaining copies.
• If the termination is not due to the requestor's fault (e.g., because the owner provided notice), then the requestor has the right to sell any remaining copies for a certain period of time.
• If the requestor violates any term of this agreement, the agreement will terminate automatically (i.e., immediately and without notice). Essentially, the requestor must stop printing any volumes or editions in which the material is included.

8. Add signatures of both parties

Both the owner and the requestor must sign the agreement. If either party is a company, note who is signing the document on its behalf and what their title is.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get permission to reprint copyrighted material?

Whether you want to republish an excerpt from a bestselling author's novel in your newspaper or a few illustrations from an artist's comic strip on your blog, you'll need the copyright holder's permission first. Permission to reprint published material documents allows you to republish all or parts of someone else's published work.

Here's the information you'll need handy to complete your permission to reprint published material:

• Who owns it: Have the owner's name and contact information ready
• Who's requesting to use it: Have the name and contact information of the requestor ready
• What it is and how it will be used: Know what kind of work it is and how the requester plans to use it