Q: I would like to start a health and nutrition magazine. In it,
I hope to use existing articles from books and magazines, similar
to what Reader's Digest does. However, I don't know
if this is considered plagiarism, and I don't want to do
anything illegal.
Name Withheld
A: Henry M. Bissell is an intellectual property attorney in
Los Angeles who has operated his own private law practice since
1968:
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"Plagiarism" is a rather nasty word, but to answer
your question, yes, reprinting copyrighted works without
permission constitutes plagiarism and is encompassed by what
you mentioned. The legal term for this is "copyright
infringement." It is to be avoided at all costs because the
law provides for severe penalties in cases of copyright
infringement, from criminal penalties to a fine, even to
imprisonment. Usually, these matters are pursued as a civil lawsuit
by the copyright owner against the accused infringer. Any damages
awarded by the court to the copyright owner can be quite
substantial and may include attorney's fees and the like.
Copyright law comes under federal jurisdiction, so enforcement
can only proceed in the federal courts. For a suit to be filed, the
copyright must be registered with the federal government. Copyright
law protects a number of categories of "works," including
the literary works you referred to in your question.
Not all works are copyrighted, and it's sometimes difficult
to determine which ones are. Prior to 1978, a copyright notice was
required to be prominently displayed on any copyrighted work when
published. If the notice was not on the work, the work became part
of the public domain. From 1978 to 1989, the law still required a
notice, but if it was inadvertently left off, the omission was not
fatal as long as an effort was made to put the notice on later
published copies of the work. Since 1989, the notice has not been
required, which makes it impossible to tell if a work is
copyrighted or not. To be on the safe side, always assume the work
is copyrighted.
As a general rule, magazine publishers are more likely to allow
republication than book publishers. Obtaining permission in advance
is essential. Reader's Digest follows this policy and
offers their standard fee, which is confidential. If permission is
not granted, they do not publish the article.
To obtain permission to reprint articles in your magazine, you
need to contact the publisher of each article you wish to reprint.
I suggest initially contacting the publisher by phone to find out
the specific person or department to contact to determine the
general terms and conditions under which reprint permission will be
granted. Ask for a copy of the publisher's reprint permission
form (if it has one), and follow up with a letter specifying
exactly which articles you want to reprint.
Once permission has been granted, your publication will have to
carry an acknowledgement of the source of the reprinted article.
Most likely, the publisher will specify exactly how it wants you to
do this. If it doesn't, you should use the following
acknowledgement: Reprinted with permission from [magazine title
and date], published by [publisher's name and address].
Always be certain you have received the publisher's
permission in writing before you publish any reprint. Keep the
document in a safe place because you never know if you will be
asked to produce it later.