fair use does not overright copyright! each has its own laws and definitions. as for poetry, i am in a similar position, and was informed by the publisher we are using that we can use 2 lines of poetry, and no more, without paying permission!!! true. ken harrow On 1/18/11 12:13 PM, Mike Chopra-Gant wrote: > 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 > -- kenneth w. harrow distinguished professor of english michigan state university department of english east lansing, mi 48824-1036 ph. 517 803 8839 [log in to unmask] ---- 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]