I am developing reading packets for elementary students to comprehend novels at a higher level, and I would like to see these packets published someday. The packets consist of questions about the story, characters and other details. What is the correct way to cite the fiction novel in the worksheets? Is it even necessary to do so since I am asking questions about the books and not quoting them as research? Thanks so much!!
As long as the quoted excerpts are quite short, you don't need prior permission from each author. Educational use such as you describe falls under Fair Use in copyright law. It will be sufficient to identify the author and opus for each quoted passage. Chapter might be nice as well, in the case of a novel, but not required. You don't need to follow a specific format, unlike citations for a scholarly paper. You could be held liable if your lessons are seen as defamatory, but that is not a copyright issue. For example, if your lessons criticize passages as revealing a racist attitude in the author, you could find yourself at the wrong end of a lawsuit.
i suggest that instead of asking here, you simply check out educational materials similar to what you have in mind and see how it's done... you'll find plenty of examples with a quick google search...
As long as he's doing this somewhere that recognises Fair Use. Not everywhere does, and he hasn't put a location in his profile!
Fair Use is contained in Article 10 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. There may be some variations from one signatory country to another, but the concept of Fair Use is an integral part of International Copyright Law.
Well, it seems that in the UK, educational use such as that described might be a breach of copyright if keithh233 is being paid for the work, and it might take a court decision to work it out (http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-other/c-exception/c-exception-review/c-exception-fairdealing.htm, we call it "Fair Dealing", not "Fair Use"). I am (still ) not a lawyer, but the preamble to the Berne Convention seems to be clear that it is about protections that must be provided to authors, and I suspect the IPO regards it as the minimum protection that must be provided to the author. Limiting Fair Use does not diminish the protection provided to authors, it increases it. The other thing, of course, is that not all countries are signatories to the Berne Convention, although I grant that all the likely ones are.
keith... if they're published as teaching materials/textbooks, they'll still be covered by the 'fair use' or 'fair dealing' exception... but if you intend to sell them to the general public, then you'll probably run into trouble... you'll need to consult a literary attorney on the issue, not ask on writing sites...
