Question of the Month

In this month's fair use question an author explores fair use and public domain in his push to publish a book that uses several long quotes.

Dear CSM,

I’m writing a book that examines the prose of notable American authors published before and directly after the Civil War.  I’d like to quote, in some
cases, several pages. I'm afraid that might exceed permitted quotes--I thought I understood that 400 words is the maximum. Can you help?

Best, Tom  Read more...

In this month’s fair use question, a student librarian discovers an old photo album in his library’s special collection and wants to make it available online.

Dear Center for Social Media:

I work at my university's library. The other day, working on our special collection, I discovered an old photo album from the 1971 – 1972 county ensemble theatre's performance season. Read more...

In this month's fair use question, a communications professor is told by her publisher she must get permission from the license holder to include a copyrighted image she refers to in the text of her nearly completed book. Does she need permission?Read more...