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Permissions We hope that this resource centre will provide existing and prospective authors with all the relevant information for acquiring permissions for the reproduction of both text and artwork in the published book. We have found that the issue of permissions produces the most frequently asked questions. We hope that the information presented here will enable authors to gain permissions with the minimum of hassle and confusion. Authors need to acquire permissions for two kinds of material: quotations from works in copyright, and illustrations such as photographs, line drawings, tables, maps, graphs, etc. All permissions must be cleared by the time the manuscript is ready for delivery. Copyright Works in which the author owns the copyright, whether published or unpublished, are protected throughout his/her lifetime and for seventy years after the author’s death. As a result of the change, from fifty to seventy years to harmonise with European copyright practice, authors who are citizens of an EU country and still in copyright in an EU country have been given an extra twenty years’ protection. Thus a number of well-known authors, who had been dead for fifty but not seventy years, have come back into copyright. US copyright protection, however, has remained at fifty years, providing the author renewed the copyright after twenty-eight years. As a last resort, this can be checked with the Library of Congress. Permission to reproduce quotations from works in copyright ‘Fair dealing’ It is the author’s responsibility to obtain permission by writing to the publisher of the book in which the quoted material appears, who is usually empowered to grant permission on behalf of the copyright-holder. Under a convention known as ‘fair dealing’, permission is usually granted free of charge for short extracts of not more than 400 words or a total of 800 words in a series of extracts (none to exceed 250 words). It is not necessary to apply for permission unless the author is very well known, but the author must make sure that all extracts are properly acknowledged. We advise you to check with the commissioning editor or editorial assistant if you have any concerns about quoting material under the convention of ‘fair dealing’ and/or if you are unsure about the status of the author. ‘Fair dealing’ does not apply to poetry or song lyrics and you should apply for permission if one or more lines of verse are being reproduced. Authors will need to get permission from the original language publisher if you want to translate any material, and they often prefer you to use an existing translation that has already been approved. getting permission to re-translate an author like Brecth, for example, can be a lengthy and frustrating business. In the case of longer extracts, the author’s permission may also be required. The publishers of the work should advise you about this when you seek permission from them to reproduce the extracts. Cassell and the Publishers Association publish an annual listing of all UK, Commonwealth and Overseas publishers and author’s agents. This Directory of Publishing is an indispensable resource for locating publishers and copyright-holders addresses. Permission to reproduce illustrations Although paintings and works of art are often in themselves out of copyright, museums and art galleries usually copyright all photographs/slides/transparencies taken of them. You must obtain permission for all illustrations, whether supplied by museums, agencies or private individuals, or taken from existing publications. You may be asked for two fees: one for permission to reproduce and one for supplying a print of the image. You should pay the cost of the print immediately. Permission fees are usually not paid until publication. All on-screen digitised material is subject to the same copyright restrictions as the printed page and permission to use it must be obtained from the copyright holder in the normal way. Copyright protection also applies to material printed on the Internet. It is almost always cheaper to obtain the print of an image and permission to reproduce it direct from the museum or gallery in which the object/work of art is housed. However, this is not always the case and very often the bureaucracy involved in obtaining images from museums is so wearisome that it is worth the expense of contacting a central agency.
Resources on the Internet for Ancient History and Classics Picture Researcher’s Handbook. An International Guide to Picture Sources and how to use them (Pira International) is an invaluable guide to tackling picture research. In most cases you will need to request permission for world rights in all languages. If you exceed fair-dealing limits, you will probably be charged a fee, which will be based on the number of words you wish to quote, so make sure this is always included in your application. You should also say whether your book will be hardback or paperback, and give its expected price and the number of copies to be printed. See specimen letter. Check these details with your commissioning editor or editorial assistant, who will advise you on how to deal with any fees that seem too high, or any other difficulties. When you deliver the final typescript, you should include with it all permissions correspondence (keeping a copy for yourself), with details of any items that it has not been possible to clear. Your typescript should include an acknowledgements page, in which you follow any specific wording requested by the publisher/copyright-holder.
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