Small Business Use of Copyrighted Materials

In the course of business, you may wish to use third party copyrighted materials for a project — maybe in a book, in advertising, or in marketing materials being created by your company. You can request

If you are lucky, the copyright lists the owner’s name. However, it is not required that the owner of a copyright be listed. Therefore, you will need to seek out the owner through research. Typically, contacting the publisher, producer, or distributor of the material will be your starting point. Reference librarians and the Internet can be helpful when embarking on such a search.

Once you have contacted the owner of the copyrighted work, you can find out what, if any, compensation the owner wants in return for allowing you to use the material. This can run the gamut, from a mere mention by name to large sums of money. The owner has the right to name the price or not, and you have the right to negotiate. Ultimately, whatever you both determine to be fair will be included in a contract, which should be drawn up by a qualified attorney.

Ownership of a copyrighted work can also be transferred in part or in whole through a copyright assignment, which transfers the rights to another party.

Conversely, you can field requests to use works that you own the copyright to and can stipulate the guidelines under which you will grant such permission.