Q –
I would like to create a book of my favorite poems from my childhood by some of my favorite authors. They are very old and a lot of the authors are probably dead. I want to give them credit for the work but I want a book that has all of my favorite nursery rhymes etc to share with others, sell to others… Is that possible or do I need to have express
permission?
A –
What I actually sent to the person above:
Unless those are now in the public domain, you will need to find the copyright owners of all of them, and request permission.
What I WANTED to send to the person above:
It’s truly bizarre how many people think they are entitled to profit from someone else’s hard work, even though they are just a fan of that work. Some people seem to think that the creator of that work will be sooooo enthralled with the praise that they’ll say, “Oh my goodness! Thank you! Of COURSE you can cut into my sales, and use my material for your own profit!!!
Hell, no, you can’t use those poems without permission and I’m positively flabbergasted that you even asked!!!
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