What is copyright?

Copyright is the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.

Now that you know what copyright is, a better question to ask might be, "Why should I care about copyright?" The long answer is right here. The short answer is you could be fined thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars... or worse!

Before you get too carried away with the writing portion of this particular assignment, we need to investigate who to contact regarding the rights to that song lyric, John Green quote, or poem that you have in mind. It's important because if you can't obtain the rights, then you can't use a direct quote--or even paraphrase--the words of your artist!

So... since there's really no point in wasting time, let's get started!

First, choose what it is that you want to quote and determine the true author of those words. If it's a song lyric, that doesn't necessarily mean that the person who sings it is also the person who created it. Janis Joplin made "Me and Bobby McGee" famous; Kris Kristofferson wrote it.

Once you know who pieced together the actual words that you're hoping to quote, the next step is to determine who currently owns the rights to those words. Emily Dickinson composed close to 1800 poems in her lifetime, but since she died in 1886, she's obviously no longer the person to contact...

Now, you may think that because Dickinson's poems were written so long ago they'd be a part of the public domain, but you would be wrong. In fact, the Harvard University Press now holds the copyrights to the late poet's works. In the event that you've got a line from "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" that you're itching to use, then contact the HUP. If you've got something else in mind? Well, then you've also got your research cut out for you.

Upon discovering the true author of the quote that you intend to use, you will need to contact him/her. This, of course, will require that you locate an address of some sort. Whether email or snail mail, it makes no difference, but once you find a way to contact your author, consider this particular goal met.

Congratulations! You've conquered the first leg of your journey.

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