There's a summary at http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html Sounds from your description that it's going to come down to how much of the original poem is being used and then on a more practical level willingness to contest legal action even if the author is unlikely to win. -----Original Message----- >From: Mike Chopra-Gant <[log in to unmask]> >Sent: Jan 18, 2011 12:13 PM >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: [SCREEN-L] Copyright clearance refusal and fair use > >A quick question, especially for those in the USA. I'm in the closing stages of writing a book on The Waltons and am writing about fans, and specifically fan literature. I was hoping to quote some poetry posted on a forum by a fan. She has claimed copyright on the works and my request for her permission to quote short passages in my book has been declined. Where do I stand insofar as fair use is concerned now that permission has been refused: does fair use override such a refusal so far as very short passages are concerned or does the refusal establish an absolute prohibition on quoting? > >I'd really like to put some of this material in the book but I suspect the author of these poems is precisely the kind of person to get litigious, and getting sued in the States is not a risk I can afford to take. > >Regards, > >Mike Chopra-Gant > >---- >Learn to speak like a film/TV professor! Listen to the ScreenLex >podcast: >http://www.screenlex.org "We seek out the taciturn." ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]