Permissions

At the NYU Comedies of Fair Use conference, Susan Bielstein discussed some of the issues that make it difficult for publishers to obtain copyright clearances: Comedies of Fair Use: The Permissions Maze. Her book, Permissions, A Survival Guide: Blunt Talk about Art as Intellectual Property is now available from the University of Chicago press. Here's the suggested blurb the publisher emailed:

Susan M. Bielstein distills decades of experience as an editor of illustrated books for a guide to navigating the treacherous waters of copyright, Permissions, A Survival Guide: Blunt Talk about Art as Intellectual Property. She gives frank advice on how to determine whether an artwork is copyrighted, how to procure a high-quality reproduction, how to use "fair use" to your advantage, and many other issues. Lawrence Lessig calls it "an extraordinarily compelling account of a system gone mad.

David Pogue relays a story of a permissions problem: a store refused to print digital photographs because the photographs look "too professional": Picture This: Common Sense: "‘She told me that because of copyright concerns, Target reserves the right not to sell any picture that appears to be professional. She said, ‘Anyone can just download any picture they want, and we’d be liable. I’m sorry, we will not sell you the prints.’"