Writing content: Copyright information

I have recently been tapping into various resources to fine tune my editing finesse, and to make sure that I'm covering everything that I might need to be as thorough as possible.

One source seems silly, but has provided quite a bit of information to me: Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies by Suzanne Gilad. Something that I have limited knowledge in-but in which I have now have officially been schooled-is copyright issues.

I will try to keep it as simplest of terms as possible, but it's quite wordy and "legal".

There are some people who can skirt copyright infringement laws; students, teachers and some nonprofits. But the general population needs to be careful what resources they pull from and how much info they pull out.

Basically, if you're quoting something from a body of work that is over 250 words, as long as you don't reference more than 250 words in your work, you're fine. If you're quoting a piece of work such as a poem, lyrics, etc., then you could run into problems and you're better off either not using it all or getting permissions appropriately.

There is an exception, as there always is, and that is called public domain. These are pieces that are not eligible for copyright or whose copyright has expired and can't be renewed for whatever reason. You can take whatever you want from these without needing permissions at all.

In order to find out whether or not what you're trying to use needs permissions or not, you can search "public domain works" into a search engine. Also, my "Dummies" book suggests this site: www.bartleby.com, which gives you the option to search for works.

I give complete credit for this blog to Suzanne Gilad from her Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies handbook. I love all the information she has given me and all the new things I've learned about copyediting from her. Thank you Suzanne!

I also found this website on my own: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html, if you were going to ask me how to go about getting permissions, I thought I'd be prepared!

Thanks for stopping by!