Hi There! I am currently writing a book to about exercise! I want to sell it commercially, so before I go and try to get it published, I wanted to know a few things. I wanted to include a study I found that shows which exercise workouts are better than others, but I do not know if I would have to pay them royalties even if I do cite my source. Without getting too specific, it is a study from a college that was conducted by one of the professors. Also, I wanted to talk about in my book how Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories a day and show what he eats for breakfast. It is in his biography "Beneath The Surface." Can I do this without violating copyright if I cite the source, or is it a violation no matter what? I have tried looking up to see information on copyright and royalties, but I want to make sure I am not getting anything wrong. I know that with songs, for example, writers cannot cite more than a lyric or two and publishers will stay far away from you if you try even doing so. Is trying to cite a scientific study the same thing? What about citing information from another book? Sorry, if this is obvious information to everyone here, but I want to make sure I get this right. Thanks!
you really need to consult a literary attorney for reliable advice on these issues... too much is at stake for you to rely on the opinions of just writing site members... basic official info can be found at: www.copyright.gov but in addition to that, it's far wiser to spend a few dollars on a consultation with an attorney who specializes in such matters, than to risk being sued...
I agree completely with Mammamaia here...the old adage "It's easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission" does NOT apply to copyright laws. Even with minor citations, your publisher will legally check those before publishing. If you are planning to self publish, you'll need to have legal advice or risk handing your royalties over to someone else (or worse). I have similar questions about using a line from a song that's playing in the background and integral to one of my scenes. I will definitely make sure I'm covered on that.
If it's a published study, you won't have to do more than cite the study appropriately. For that, use a standard MLA or APA citation style. As long as it's a specific and fully credited citation of a quote, you're fine. But, republishing things like charts, full passages that are obvious "content additions" to your work, pictures and the like are not permissible without specific permission. Scientific Journal articles are published to be used, not for financial gain. (Except by the journals that publish them.) You can buy the articles directly from the journals they are published within. That does not give you free use of them. But, you can cite any journal article appropriately and you will not have to worry about copyright infringement. However, you can not fully reproduce such articles without explicit permission, as that ability is reserved by the publishing journal. Excerpts from the body of the article or the abstract are fine, but any special inclusions, charts, graphs, etc.. will have to be authorized. When using journal articles, you can't just cut&paste them in order to create original content. However, you can use citations and excerpts to support the content that you have generated yourself. * I am not an attorney nor is my advice intended to replace that of competent copyright professionals.
Thank you Everyone! I will take the advice everyone has given me and put it to good use. I will consult an attorney to make sure everything is good before I try anything.
bsb... lyricists can be very touchy about the use of their work [i know, because i write song lyrics, among many other things]... and there's no firm law regarding how much of a lyric you can use without permission... so in this case especially, it's best to be safe by asking, than risk being sorry...
Mammamaia...once again, thanks for the FYI. Needless to say APA says nothing about this, so I'm going to need to find a more "hip" source for guidelines!
the APA is virtually useless for creative writing, beth... get a strunk & white, a good punctuation guide and a good unabridged dictionary, instead... and see the online reference sources i've listed in a sticky down in the 'writing mechanics' section... put those in your favorites menu for quick checking...
