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copyright permission conundrumDate: August 28, 2010
There are five sentences I want to set to music. These five sentences come from a book that is out of print. The author of the book is dead, and the publisher has been out of business for many years. I have tried to track down the estate of the author but to no avail. Does anyone know what can be done in this case?
Thanks.
Replies (5): Threaded | Chronological
Tom Tropp on August 28, 2010 4:26pm
Chris, go to www.copyright.gov and search the catalog records. That SHOULD give you current listing information for the copyright claimant or its agent.
Paul Carey on August 28, 2010 7:08pm
Hi Chris,
Tom's advice is good. If you are still coming up with nothing, here is a way you could proceed (please note I am not a lawyer nor am I giving you legal advice- you make your own decision what to do).
Document all your efforts to follow copyright law. Then, if you really feel you have exhausted all your investigational avenues, write the piece and, if needed down the road, state your "due dilgence" when you investigated all this. In other words, you have done your very best, have found no one, and still desire to use the text. If at some point someone contacts you claiming ownership, there are options- withdraw the piece, come to an agreement with this person, or anything else you can work out. Actualyl in quite a number of poetry compilations there is a notice printed in the book stating that if any unkown to the publisher copyright holders step forward-- they, the publishers, will work out an agreement for retroactive (and future) royalties.
I have a hunch that no one will step forward, and even if they do, they will probably be happy to work something out with you. Unless you have a monster hit and somehow make a lot of money with this single venture, I doubt that anyone is going to appear, hire a lawyer and sue you for your firstborn child. I think the important thing is to do your best and document it all.
Good luck and welcom to the murky waters of copyright law,
Paul Carey
www.paulcarey.net
on August 28, 2010 10:11pm
Chris: Both Tom and Paul are absolutely correct, but let's take one step back. What is your source for those 5 sentences? Presumably you have a book, and presumably that book has a copyright notice. And the copyright notice has a publication date. If that date is before 1923, it is public domain in the U.S.
Going out of print does not negate copyright protection. Neither does selling out to another publisher or going out of business. Perhaps it should, but it doesn't. So show good faith and document it with a paper trail.
All the best,
John
on August 29, 2010 2:41am
I would agree with Paul Carey. In these days of people posting things on the internet it's often equally hard to track down copyright oweners (especially from way down here at the bottom of the South Pacific!). I'd be inclined to include a note (disclaimer) saying "Every attempt has been made to trace the copyright owner. The composer would be pleased to hear from anyone with any further information". I've done that a couple of times myself. If anyone finds you out, they're generally just happy that someone thought enough of their text to set it to music.
Good luck.
David Hamilton
Auckland, New Zealand
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