2. Some people will give you permission to quote them, but other people will flat-out say “NO!”

3. Copyright law in this area is called “Fair Use” which states that you can copy someone without permission if it’s for educational purposes or if they’ve been dead for over 50 years.

4. If you can’t get permission, consider finding a similar quote (where you can get permission) or try rewriting the idea yourself without blatantly plagiarizing.

5. Before you can ask for permission to quote someone, first you need to find out who they are! How do you find out when they lived? When did they pass away? Google is great for this…especially if you type their names in quotes: ex. “John Doe”.

6. If you do decide to quote other people without permission, consider the following:

• Will the copyright owners find out?

• Will they care?

• Will they be honored to be included in your work?

• Will they look at it as promotion or damage?

• What if you can’t locate the owner and you really “need” to use that quote?

• When/if the copyright owners find out, will they take legal action against you for a small quote?

• And, what if you provide a generous “by-line” in the “Resources” section at the back of your book?

7. If you do quote them without permission and they decide to sue you, use their Under

Fair Use laws, they have to prove that your quote caused them financial damage.