Copyright gives the copyright holder certain exclusive rights in his/her work, including the rights to publish, reproduce, distribute, and make derivative works from the work. This protects authors, publishers, and other copyright holders from unauthorized reproduction of their work (yours, too). It protects unauthorized use of photos, drawings, charts, graphs, advertisements, screen shots, and other forms of illustrations as well as written text.

The object of publishing, and one of the main purposes of U.S. copyright law, is the dissemination of ideas. Consequently under U.S. copyright law, ideas are not subject to copyright; only the expression of the ideas is protected. Accordingly, you do not violate a work's copyright if you take an idea appearing in a copyrighted work and write something that expresses the same idea but in a different way. This can get a bit tricky, however. It is not acceptable to simply paraphrase another person's work since you are merely altering the original work; in copyright terms you are making a derivative work, which is the exclusive right of the copyright holder. For example, courts have ruled that the sequence of thought in the development and treatment of an idea is protected by copyright.

There are three basic steps to be followed in clearing (obtaining) permissions for your book: determining what material needs permission; obtaining the permission; and reviewing and complying with the terms of the permission.

Determining What Needs Permission

The first step in clearing permissions is to determine what material needs permission.

Public Domain

Works that are not protected by copyright are said to be in the public domain. These include:

• Works for which the copyright term has expired.

• Works created by a federal government employee during the course of his/her employment.

Copyright term or duration under U.S. copyright law depends on when a work was created; it differs if the work was created after 1977, when current U.S. copyright law came into effect, or before 1978, under previous copyright law. For works created prior to 1978, the copyright term is generally 75 years. Works published under the current copyright law, from 1978 onward, have a copyright term of the life of the author plus an additional 50 years.

Be cautious when determining whether a work's copyright term has expired. In particular, keep in mind that a new version of a work in the public domain may have had material added to it that is still protected by copyright. For instance, the date of creation of a work translated from a foreign language is the date of the translation, not the date of the creation of the original work; so a 1990s translation of a 16th-century French drama is protected by copyright. Also note that a work does not enter the public domain when it goes out of print. Out-of-print works may be and frequently are still protected by copyright. Further, copyright registration and notice are no longer required for a work to be protected by copyright. The fact that a work doesn't have a copyright notice doesn't mean that it's not protected by copyright.

A work is also in the public domain if it is a work created by a federal government employee during the course of his/her employment. This aspect of the copyright law only applies to works created by federal government employees, though, so works created by state governments, for instance, or works created by private companies under contract to the federal government, may not be in the public domain. (It's possible for these types of works to be dedicated to the public domain even though federal copyright law doesn't automatically make them so.)

Fair Use

U.S. copyright law sometimes allows material to be quoted without the consent of the copyright holder under the doctrine of fair use. The Copyright Act defines fair use as the use of excerpts from a work for the purpose of comment, criticism, or study. If a use meets that threshold test, then four factors must be considered in determining whether a use is fair use:

• The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
• The nature of the copyrighted work.
• The amount and substantiality of the portion of the work used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
• The effect of the use in question on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Although the amount of material to be used is an important factor in determining whether a use is fair use, it is not the only factor. There are no set numerical guidelines on what constitutes fair use, and in fact for some types of works, such as poems, song lyrics, and personal letters, use of even the smallest excerpt is probably not allowed under the fair use doctrine.

Work Protected by Copyright

Copyright protects any form of expression of an idea, not just text. Copyright protection therefore extends to such things as maps, charts, artwork, cartoons, computer programs and screen displays, dictionary definitions, speeches, theses, lectures, letters, advertisements, and web sites. These types of material should be treated the same way as textual material. You need to obtain permission unless your use is fair use or the material is in the public domain. You must obtain permission to use charts, tables, graphs, and maps even in cases where they are updated or otherwise adapted for our purposes, and even if we have a studio redraw them for better reproduction results. In such cases, you should secure permission to adapt.

To secure permission for ads, you often have to deal with both advertisers and advertising agencies. The advertiser holds copyright and grants permission; agencies can supply transparencies or slicks suitable for reproduction. Companies are very concerned about how their ads are used in textbooks so they usually ask to see surrounding text copy before they grant permission. Allow ample time to obtain permission for ads; the process is quite time-consuming.

Student essays and papers are also protected by copyright, and formal written permission is required before they can be included in your book (a verbal agreement with a student is not sufficient).

In determining whether permission is needed for a particular excerpt or illustration, also keep the following in mind:

• Paraphrasing. Permission must be obtained to use material that is paraphrased, abridged, or condensed from the original, even if the material is rewritten, if the new version is substantially similar to the original.

• Embedded material. If you use an excerpt that contains material from another source, you need permission from the owner of the embedded material as well as the owner of the excerpt.

• Reuse of material in future editions. Since most permission licenses only allow the use of material in one edition of a work, you will need to obtain permission to use the material in each new edition.

• Use of material from McGraw-Hill publications. Permission must be obtained from the McGraw-Hill Permissions Department to use material from McGraw-Hill publications in other McGraw-Hill works.

• Your own material. You need to get permission to quote from yourself if another publisher holds the rights to your work.

• Works published in other countries. Works published in other countries can also be and generally are protected by copyright. The copyright term for European Union countries is the life of the author plus 70 years. Permission should be obtained for foreign works just as it is obtained for U.S. works.

• Photographs. Photographs and works of art cannot be reproduced satisfactorily from books, magazines, or other printed materials. A photographic print or transparency (for color art) must be obtained from the owner of the original. Usually, a request for permission to reproduce is included in the letter asking for a print or transparency, since permission too must come from the owner of the original. Someone who has merely used it by permission cannot give permission to you. Be sure to emphasize in your letter that you need both the photo and permission to reproduce it, and include a photocopy of the photo with your letter (if we are handling photo research for your book, we will take care of these tasks). In regard to a photograph of a painting or other artwork, there is a copyright in the photograph itself even if the copyright in the artwork has expired, so you need permission from the copyright owner of the photo. For photographs of people, please note that you may also need to obtain a written release from the subject of the photo as well as from the copyright owner of the photo itself. And, as with any permission license, the permission for use of a photo doesn't include its use in advertising or on a cover unless it specifically states so.

Government agencies usually supply photographs together with permission to reproduce with only a nominal charge for the print. Publicity departments of business and trade associations usually cooperate for the sake of the value of the recognition they get. Occasionally you may have to use a commercial picture agency, in which case a fee will be required. Museums, universities, and some other sources often require a combined payment--part to cover the cost of the photo, part as a permission fee.

Once you've identified all the material for which you'll need permission, you should create a master permissions log to keep track of every piece. This is essential for tracking the status of permissions and ensuring that all permissions are obtained and their requirements complied with. You will also need it to provide your acquisitions editor with a list of permitted pieces, as required in your publishing agreement.

Obtaining Permission

Once you've determined what material needs a permission license, permission must be requested in writing from the copyright holder. Requests should be in writing both because copyright holders generally insist on a written request and because it is essential for accurate record keeping. A sample permissions letter is available from your acquisitions editor.

First, however, you and your acquisitions editor must decide what rights to request (e.g., print run, world rights vs. North American rights, other languages, formats such as print, CD-ROM, on-line). In determining what territory, languages, media, and formats for which to request permission, you should only request rights you reasonably expect to need, because the broader the license you obtain, the more expensive it generally is. On the other hand, definitely request all the rights you need at once, since it is more costly to go back and request additional rights.

Once you've established what rights you are requesting, determine who the rights holder is. Address requests to the publisher of a work, not the author. Generally, a publisher controls the rights to works it publishes, and if it doesn't, will refer you to the appropriate source. To obtain permission to use a piece found in a work other than the one in which it was originally published, address the request to the original publisher of the material, not the publisher of the work in which the material was found.

There are a number of good resources you can use to help locate a rights holder. These include reference works such as Books in Print and the Literary Marketplace, the U.S. Copyright Office, and the Copyright Clearance Center's web site.

Once you identify the rights holder, send your permission request and include the following information (forms are available from your acquisitions editor):

• Author, title, edition number, and copyright date of the work from which you want to use material.

• The exact material for which you need permission, including page numbers (and figure numbers, if appropriate).

• Whether the material will be modified or adapted in any way.

• The author, title, edition number, publisher, and publication date of the McGraw-Hill work in which the material will appear (list all ancillaries to the main text which will also contain the material).

• The print run of the McGraw-Hill work.

• The territory and languages for which you need permission.

• The formats in which the material will be used (e.g., print, CD-ROM, on-line).

If you're using several items from the same copyright holder, it's better to include all the items in one request letter than to send multiple requests sporadically. Send two copies of your request letter with a space for the copyright holder to sign at the bottom; they should return one signed copy and keep the second.

Once you've sent your request letter, be sure to update the permissions log with information regarding the rights holder and the current status of each permission request. Allow sufficient time to obtain permission; it usually takes several months and can take much longer. Begin sending follow-up letters and/or calling rights holders to check on the status of your unanswered requests after two to three weeks.

Please note that if you try to obtain permission but can't find the rights holder or the rights holder doesn't respond, you don't have permission to use the material. Attempting to obtain permission is not sufficient.

Complying with Terms of the Permission License

When you obtain the permission license, check to make sure that the license gives you the permission you need. Specifically, make sure the license includes the territory, languages, and formats for which you need permission. Write on each permission license you receive the number of the manuscript page and chapter in which the copyrighted material is used, and the table or figure number if applicable. This is very important in helping our staff check the citations for accuracy.

Next, review the license for any conditions and make sure that those conditions are met. Permission licenses frequently have four basic conditions with which the requester must comply: (1) to return a signed copy of the license; (2) to include a credit line, which is sometimes specified in the license, and place it where the license requires; (3) to pay a permission fee; and (4) to send a free copy (or copies) of the requester's work upon publication. Usually the license is not valid unless those conditions are met, so it is crucial to ensure that they are.

If the permission license specifies the form and location of the credit line to be used, it must be used as specified. However, if no credit line is specified, use the following format:

From {Author's Name}, {Title of the book}. Copyright © {copyright year} by {copyright claimant}. Reprinted by permission of {name of entity giving permission}.

From Thomas Patterson, THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. Copyright © 1990 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

The full credit may appear in a list of acknowledgments rather than with the material itself unless the permission license specifies otherwise; however, a brief credit to the original source of the material should appear with the material. This credit should also be used for material for which you did not need to obtain permission, leaving out the "Reprinted by permission" part.

When the copyright holder requires you to use specific wording and placement for the credit line, try to incorporate such wording before you submit your manuscript for production. If you receive any permissions after you send the manuscript, forward copies to your project editor so he or she can insert the required credit lines. Send the originals to your acquisitions editor.

Our custom is to pay permission fees at the time of publication (photo agencies may demand earlier payment). Our editorial department pays these fees all at one time and charges the cost according to the terms of your contract. We check all requests for payment against the text to make sure that material was actually included. If you paid any permissions yourself, send your acquisitions editor proof of payment (including your check number and date). If you are granted permission to reproduce copyrighted material and later decide not to use it, notify your acquisitions editor so he or she can cancel the grant and any related charges.

Our editorial department will send complimentary copies of published books to those grantors who request them.

Your permission log should be updated upon receipt of the permission indicating that permission was received and from whom, and listing all conditions of the permission. You should send the log and your original completed permission licenses for all quoted material to your acquisitions editor, who will store the file for protection and for reference use should any question ever arise concerning the use of the material. Be sure to keep a copy for yourself for future reference and/or future revisions.