PERMISSIONS
If you include in your work any material that is protected by copyright you must obtain permission to reproduce it from the copyright holder. These notes explain when you need permission and how to get it.1 If you have any queries, or any problems obtaining permissions, please contact your Editorial Assistant.
What types of material are protected by copyright?
Anything you might want to use: text, tables, computer programs, line illustrations and photographs. For copyright purposes photographs include images produced by any type of radiation (e.g. ultrasound scans).
When is material protected by copyright?
Any material, whether published or unpublished, has copyright protection until 70 years after the death of its creator. After this time it passes out of copyright into the public domain, and can be reproduced by anyone.
Who holds the copyright?
The first copyright holder of a work is its creator. The copyright of a photograph, for example, belongs initially to the photographer. The exception is any work done in the course of employment, the copyright of which belongs to the employer. Thus the copyright of a radiograph taken by a hospital radiographer belongs to the hospital.
If the material is published, the copyright (or at least the right to grant or withhold permission to reproduce the material) usually passes to the publisher.
Can material ever be used without the copyright holder's permission?
It can if its use can be classed as \"fair dealing\". Fair dealing is a legal provision which allows passages of text from a work in copyright to be quoted without the permission of the copyright holder if they are \"for the purpose of criticism and review\". The interpretation of criticism and review is broad and in practice covers any reason for which material would be quoted in an academic book.
There is no legal definition of how much of the work can be used, but the Society of Authors and the Publishers Association jointly recommend that the numbers of words that can be quoted without permission from the copyright holder are:
1
They reflect the English legal position as stated in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, but for practical purposes they apply also to material published in the United States and continental Europe.
up to 400 words in one passage, or up to 800 words in a series of passages no one of which is longer than 300 words.
Acknowledgement must be given to the author of the quote, and the title and publisher of the book from which it is taken.
No similar fair dealing provisions exist for tables or illustrations. The position of computer programs is unclear, but it would be safer always to ask permission to reproduce extracts from programs.
How is permission to reproduce material obtained?
Complete one of the standard permission letters attached and duplicate it. For unpublished material send both copies to the creator or the creator's employer. For published material send them to the permissions department of the publisher. One of the copies will be for the copyright holder’s files and the other will be for yourself.
When should permission be obtained?
It is very much in your interest to send off permissions letters as soon as you know you will want to use the material, as leaving it too late may delay publication. Publishers often take many weeks to reply to permissions requests, and we cannot send a typescript to the printer until all the necessary permissions have been obtained.
What should happen to the completed permissions letters?
Send them all to Springer when you submit your typescript (or to your volume editor if you are a contributor). Please write clearly on each permissions letter the figure number, table number or typescript page number in your book or paper to which the letter refers.
How should the copyright holder be acknowledged?
The copyright holder may specify a form of words for the acknowledgement when granting permission, in which case this should be used. Otherwise, give a reference citation in the text (author/date or number according to the system you are using) and the full details of the work in the reference list. For example:
Quotations: \"(Author 1990)\" or \"[1]\" at the end of the quote. Tables: \"From Author (1990).\" or \"From Author [1].\" below the table. Illustrations: \"(From the Author (1900).)\" or \"(From Author [1].)\" at the end of the legend
