Getting permission

If you are not licenced to use a work or you are not able to use one of the copyright exceptions then permission to use copyrighted materials must be gained from the copyright holder.

A person can give permission if they are:

• the person who made it (the creator), or their family or heirs
• the creator’s employer, if it was created it as part of the creator’s job
• a person who bought, acquired or licensed the rights
• an organisation representing the copyright owner

If in doubt refer to the publisher/production company.

In order to apply for permission to use materials you will need to know the following information:

• full title of the work
• author/editor/director etc.
• publisher (or production company)
• year of publication/release of original material
• the way in which the material is to be used
• the number of copies of your publication to be produced

Based on the above information the copyright holder will decide whether to grant permission and how much to charge.

You can download and adapt the letter template below to request permission to reuse content.