Angela,
I’m not planning to make a profit on my book so I’m calling it non-profit. That means I can use the “fair use” doctrine, and include other authors’ works in my book, right?
No, no, no! To be completely honest, questions like this always make me cringe. By contacting me today, you may have avoided a lawsuit, or two, or a few.
Unless you have created and registered an actual 501(c)(3) non-profit with the government, your publishing enterprise is NOT considered a “non profit.”
Please read this excellent article about fair use copyright law.
And, read this article on how to start a non-profit.
I think you will find that simply asking permission to include others’ works in your book is far easier, and cheaper, in the long run.
Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.
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Three comments here, Angela:
1). I applaud this person for being savvy enough to ask this question of you. Now, we can all read a couple of good articles.
2). If someone is going to say upfront, ‘(I am not) going to make a profit on (my) book..” what did that person spend time writing it for? Maybe there are other reasons for writing a book than to sell it. I for one think a book is a small business endeavor, and he/she is foolish.
3). I am on the boards of two 501(c)3 organizations. I can say with certainty that your advice saved him/her a world of expensive pain over a self avowed ‘nothing book’.