Scottish Poetry Library Poetry Issues

New Poetry List

Check out our listings of the newest Scottish poetry and related titles.

• Download New Poetry Titles list for January-June 2007
• The latest list, for July-December 2007, is available to SPL Library Friends.

When do you need permission?

We asked Lisa Dowdeswell at the Society of Authors for guidance on the copyright implications of using poetry in your libraries.

Lisa recommends for a general overview on permissions the Society of Authors' excellent Quick Guide to Permissions. As she points out, these comments can only be a guide - the interpretation of copyright law will always depend on the individual case. These are some ways in which you can reasonably use a poem without requesting permission from the copyright holder:

• Putting up lines from a poem on the library wall for temporary display - (although of course it's a courtesy to ask the poet's permission, especially if he or she is likely to be coming into the library!).
• Putting a whole poem on the wall for temporary display (ditto).
• Copying a poem for your reading group to discuss.

Lisa says, 'I doubt displaying a copy of a poem on a wall would have copyright implications as you are not publishing, performing the work etc.' But you will need to clear copyright permission for:

• Printing a poem on a bookmark, programme or other means of wider distribution - for example, to advertise a reading or festival. You should get permission to reproduce a poem on a wider scale like this, even if the item will not be sold.

However, Lisa does make this point about performing poems in public: 'According to Blackstone's Guide to the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988 the answer to the question “What is meant by ‘performing in public'?" is that “whilst there is no statutory definition of the word ‘public', the authorities suggest that the performance of the work must be in the presence of persons who are not part of the ‘domestic or quasi domestic' circle. The courts have tended to give the term a wide meaning taking into account borderline cases whether or not the performance is one for which the copyright owner deserves to get paid a licence fee”.

So when you arrange that Dead Poets Slam, open mike session with classic poems or ask someone to talk in public about their favourite poems - have a careful think about the material you'll be using.

• Society of Authors' Quick Guide to Permissions
• Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988

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