This refers to any content that belongs (whether by copyright or implicit ownership) to someone or something (the rightsholder) other than yourself. Copyright automatically exists if the content is original and recorded in some form.

This will vary from title to title and will largely depend on the subject matter. However, we encourage authors only to include third-party content in their books where necessary and where it genuinely adds meaning and depth to the content for the intended audience. Seeking permission to include multiple items of third-party content is a time-consuming and potentially costly process, so it is important to consider whether an item really adds value to the book. There are some situations where specific forms of third-party material can be included in books without permission where it is being used for the purpose of criticism and review. This is known as “fair dealing” and is covered in more detail below. 

It is the author’s responsibility to obtain permission for all third-party content in their book (following guidance supplied by the publisher). If you are unclear about anything relating to copyright and permissions, you should discuss it with your commissioning editor as early on in the writing process as possible. You must also ensure you comply with any specific contractual obligations outside of this guidance i.e. the specified number of figures and tables in the book. 

 You should inform your commissioning editor of any third-party material in your manuscript and supply a clear source for it at draft manuscript stage. If you are unsure if permission will be required for material you wish to include, please flag it to your commissioning editor. If permissions are not cleared by the time the book goes into production, the third-party material will need to be removed from the book. 

Under UK copyright law, as a general rule, permission should be sought from the rightsholder to reproduce any ‘substantial parts’ of any third-party content in a book. Copyright for most works lasts until 70 years after the end of the year of the author’s death (or until 70 years after the end of the year of the longest-living author’s death if there are multiple authors). 

 Third-party content can include literary text, website text, lyrics, TV/film scripts, images, photos, maps, graphs, data and databases, website screenshots and more. All original works will have copyright status, so it is best to assume that all third-party content is protected by copyright, unless you have a good reason to believe otherwise. 

You must obtain permission in writing to include any third-party material in your book, unless it falls under fair dealing (see more details below). Without written permission (i.e. typically email confirmation), we will not be able to include the third-party content in the book and it will need to be removed prior to the book going into production. 

This is subjective. It depends as much on the quality or significance of the content as much as it does on its quantity in proportion to the whole work. For instance, a few lines of text from a long report or book are unlikely to constitute a ‘substantial part’ of the entire work, whereas any song lyrics or poem excerpts will. 

A book is a commercial product and therefore if you use third-party content it will be for commercial purposes, which generally requires permission. Standard exceptions for private study, research or teaching purposes do not apply here.  

Including third-party content in a book may be allowed without permission in limited circumstances where all the following apply: 

• The use is “fair dealing” (see more detail on this below) 
• The work being quoted has previously been published 
• You are quoting “not more than is required by the specific purpose for which it is used” 
• The use is genuinely for the purpose of quotation i.e. for criticism and review 
• You include a proper acknowledgement i.e. title and author 

Short extracts of text or other types of material being included for the purpose of criticism and review can be considered “fair dealing” under UK law or “fair use” in the US. In general, the third-party content needs to have already been published for it to qualify as “fair dealing.” Its reuse also can’t act as a substitute for the original, causing the rightsholder to lose revenue. The amount of the original material being reproduced also needs to be reasonable and appropriate.  

 A short quote or extract from a published source being included, acknowledged and explicitly discussed by the new author in the surrounding text is likely to qualify as “fair dealing”, and so shouldn’t require permission.  

Other types of material, including images, photos, maps, graphs, data, databases, and website screenshots are less likely to fall under “fair dealing” and more likely to require permission. You should always check with rightsholders to confirm whether permission is required for these types of material. 

Epigraphs, decorative quotes, song lyrics and poem excerpts are not considered “fair dealing” and will always require permission, unless the author died over 70 years ago. Even then you should check to ensure you are quoting original versions of songs or poems and that there aren’t living co-authors or other copyright protections on the material. We generally discourage authors from including epigraphs, song lyrics and poem excerpts in their books for these reasons.  

Raw facts and isolated data points or statistics are not protected by copyright and can generally be reused without permission. This allows an author to include facts, data points and statistics in their books, as well as create their own original tables and figures based on them.  

Databases and datasets can be protected by copyright if the selection or arrangement of content is original and has required substantial investment. The data creator will often state how the data can be used, for which purposes and how the creators should be acknowledged. It might be published under a creative commons license or be in the public domain, but you should always check the creator’s specifications to confirm the correct rules.  

Whether you need permission to adapt works depends on the extent of the changes and how the underlying information is used.  

For instance, if you are taking an existing figure or table and are only making slight changes to it e.g. changing colours, fonts or updating a few headings – it is likely going to resemble the original figure or table. This is considered a derivative work and permission from the original rightsholder is required. Furthermore, the rightsholder might stipulate that you are unable to modify or adapt the original version. 

If you are using raw data and facts only and creating an entirely new table or figure with its own unique style and layout, you generally do not need permission. However, you should always acknowledge the original source (title and author) and you should ask your commissioning editor before doing this if you are unsure. 

You will need to contact the rightsholder to request permission to include the material in your book as early as possible (at draft manuscript stage or earlier). This will likely mean either emailing the rightsholder or completing an online permissions form/application on the rightsholder’s website.  

You will need to indicate specifically what material you would like to include, and you will need to provide some information about your book. The information required will vary depending on who the rightsholder is, but it is likely to include the following: 

• Your book’s title and your name as the author 
• Your book’s expected publication date 
• The publisher 
• The book’s ISBN 
• The book’s extent/length 
• Price of the book 
• Print run/expected sales of the book 
• Language of the publication 
• Rights that are required 
• Term of licence required 

You will also need to find out from the rightsholder how they wish to be acknowledged/credited in your book. They may specify the exact wording of their acknowledgement/copyright line, and it is important that we comply with their requirements. 

Please use the Permissions request email template for contacting rightsholders. Your commissioning editor will be able to supply you with the specific information relevant to your title.  

If permission is granted to include the third-party content, you’ll need to forward on the email confirmation to your commissioning editor.  

If a rightsholder asks for a fee in exchange for granting permission, our general advice would be to consider whether the item really needs to be included in the book and whether there is an alternative way of illustrating your point. We generally don’t have a budget for permissions fees, and you are likely to need to pay for this yourself.  

You are unlikely to be able to include the third-party content in your book even if you cannot identify who the rightsholder is because it is still protected by copyright. The only exception to this is if it falls under “fair dealing.” 

You also cannot include the third-party content in your book if you don’t manage to get a response or confirmed permission from the rightsholder. We generally advise authors to attempt contact 2-3 times and if they receive no response, to remove or replace the third-party item with something else.  

If the rightsholder refuses to give permission for the item, you must make sure that it is not included in the book.  

As stated above, all permissions must be cleared by handover to production, so it is important that you inform your commissioning editor of any outstanding permissions at final manuscript stage. 

Here are two useful resources containing further information: 

• Society of Authors - https://societyofauthors.org/resource/copyright-and-permissions/  
• Publishers Association - https://www.publishers.org.uk/publications/permissions-guidelines-for-uk-publishers/   

Dear [insert rightsholder name],  

I am currently writing a book entitled [insert book title], which is due to be published in [insert publication month and year] by Trotman Publishing. I am writing to ask for your kind permission to reproduce [short description of the third-party content including the most pertinent source details i.e. author and title]. 

 My book is a comprehensive guide to (insert short description of your book), aimed at an academic/professional/educational audience [delete as appropriate].      

Please find attached/below [delete as applicable] the content that I am hoping to include. This can also be found at [insert web link].  

Proposed copyright line: ‘Source: [insert web link]. Reprinted with kind permissions of [insert name of rightsholder].’  

Here’s some information about the publication (your commissioning editor can supply any information you do not know):   

Title:   
Author(s):   
Publisher: Trotman Publishing 
ISBN:  
Extent:  
Language: UK English 
Rights required: non-exclusive, world rights, print and eBook 
Pub date:  
RRP:  
Print run:  
Length of licence: lifetime of publication      

Please confirm if you are happy to allow us to reproduce this material in the book. I would appreciate if you could let me know if you would like us to make any changes to the proposed copyright line. If you would prefer us not to reproduce the material, we will of course remove it.   

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.