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Copyright issues
Who will own the copyright to my book?
You will retain the copyright to your work.
Copyright integrity
The use of all non-original material must be acknowledged in the text
and in a bibliography.
It is the author's responsibility to obtain written permission from
copyright holders for the use of copyright material. Where copyright
permission is required, before we publish your book, you must supply
copies of signed copyright permissions from each copyright holder
authorizing use of the material in your book.
The following guidelines, based on the conventions set out by the
Society of Authors and the Publishers Association, may be used for
determining when permission should be sought:
Copyright Text
Seek permission for:
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Any extract of four hundred words or more.
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A series of extracts totalling eight hundred words or more, of which
any one extract has more than three hundred words.
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An extract or series of extracts comprising one-quarter or more of
the original work.
Copyright Poetry, Hymns, etc.
Seek permission for:
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Any extract of forty lines or more.
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A series of extracts totalling more than forty lines.
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An extract comprising one-quarter or more of a complete poem or hymn.
Copyright Illustrations, etc.
Seek permission for:
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The use of any illustration, table, figure, diagram, photograph,
drawing, etc.
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The use of any adapted illustration, table, figure, diagram,
photograph, drawing, etc.
Copyright notes
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If you want to use material that was written by a private individual,
permission should be sought from him or her (private individuals
automatically have copyright on anything they write). If you want to
use material from a publication, for example: a book, newspaper or
magazine, permission should be sought from the publisher of the material.
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Copyright lasts for seventy years after the end of the calendar year
in which the author died. So, for example, there is no copyright on
the works of Shakespeare and there is no copyright on the Authorized
King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. Any copyright notice you see
on a KJV edition of a Bible does not relate to the KJV text but to
the layout and any additional material used, for example: study aid,
concordance, topical index, reference material, etc.
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If you quote from a modern translation of the Bible, it may be
subject to copyright protection—seek permission from the
publisher of the Bible.
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There is no copyright on:
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Generally known facts
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Works by people who have been dead for seventy years
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Ideas
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Titles, names and pseudonyms; but be wary of using a well-known title
for your own work: you could be accused of 'passing off'.
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If you are worried that someone may falsely claim your work as their
own, a simple way to prove your copyright is to mail yourself a copy
of your manuscript in a sealed envelope and keep it unopened. You
will then have the date-stamp to prove when it was written.
Alternatively, place a sealed copy with a bank or solicitor and get a
dated receipt.
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Your manuscript should contain a copyright line. This is usually on
the reverse side of the title page and of the form:
'Copyright © <Author's name> <year>' or '©
<Author's name> <year>'
for example: 'Copyright © John Smith 2004' or '© John Smith 2004'.
In practice, if you omit the copyright line we will insert it for you.
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