Dear Peter,   The best source ...

Dear Peter,

The best source for obtaining copyright permissions is the article or book author. They either have it or know the address/contact of the publisher who owns it. I have found that pretty much ALL copyrighted material is indicated along with categories and mechanisms for copyright use approvals on their origination sites.

If you have picked up a snippet of a paper, or someone else’s non-authorized copy, use the information to locate the original abstract, paper, or book posting from the original publisher, author or seller. Copyrights are necessary (unfortunately) to prevent widespread and indiscriminate theft of significant ideas. However, most scientists simply want recognition and credit – most of the monetary reward will already be in their book sales or other contracts. As in commercial advertising, “there is no such thing as too much exposure”. Getting one’s name known in professional and public spheres is sometimes key to further career advancement. Thus, most scientists are very willing to allow royalty-free use of their publications, subject only to how it is attributed, cited or recognized. Those requirements are usually posted on the origination webpage, or they can be obtained from the author or publisher.

Government publications can be used directly (always with attribution), but they will also have any relevant restrictions or protocols listed on their pages

In the event that they require some financial exchange for the right to repost a document, that is up to you to decide whether it is reasonable. If for any reason a copyright holder refuses to allow permission for re-use of their material, there really is nothing that you can do about it except comply. If you think your readers should look at it anyway, you may always insert a reference or link to the origination page or document.

For items that are “no longer available”, the first recourse is the limitation of the copyright period, after which documents become “public domain”. If it is simply “mothballed” and you get no response from the indicated publisher or author on repeated attempts to contact them, you may consult with an Intellectual Property lawyer as to whether that implies any revocation of the right (as it does in Trade Marks and some other cases).

Best regards,

Steven Cooke