These self publishing guidelines for avoiding legal issues are particularly important to read if you are writing a memoir, expose or quoting extensively from other articles or books.

When Do I Need to Get Permissions? | Bookstand Publishing Read this if you quoting other books or articles in your book manuscript.

Guidelines on Using Photos in Your Self Published Book | Bookstand Publishing

 

Read this if you are using photographs or images in your self published book.

A Writer’s Guide to Defamation and Invasion of Privacy | WritersDigest.com

Good article from Writers Digest on avoiding defamation and invasion of privacy in a memoir.

Copyright in General (FAQ) | U.S. Copyright Office

General answers to questions about Copyright. Please note that you do NOT need to have your book registered by the US Copyright Office to be protected by copyright law.

Defamation – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Definition of Defamation so you be sure you haven’t committed it in your book.

The ‘Fair Use’ Rule: When Use of Copyrighted Material is Acceptable | Nolo.com

Good article on Fair Use which sometimes allows you to make limited use of another copyrighted work without asking permission.

The First Amendment Handbook | Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Guidelines on the web for writers on avoiding libel, defamation, privacy infringement and more.

Photographs and images in your book can help you tell your story and add interest, clarity and excitement to your book. A powerful image on the cover of your book, can do a lot to help sell your book.

However, the laws and regulations for when you can and can’t use a photograph in your book can be confusing and, if you aren’t careful, can get you in trouble.   Here are some simple guidelines to help end the confusion and keep you out of trouble.

Permissions

As a rule, if you didn’t take the picture yourself, you have to have written permission from the copyright holder to use the image in your book. The two exceptions to this are:

• Public Domain:   Under United States copyright law, all images published before January 1, 1923 in the United States are now in the public domain.    Just because something is posted on the World Wide Web does NOT mean it is under public domain.  In fact, most images on the World Wide Web are copyright protected and cannot be used without permission.
• Fair use:  Fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.   You can read more about Fair Use here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use   Please keep in mind that if you intend to profit from the sale of your book, the images you use in your book will probably NOT be covered by Fair Use.

Getting Permission

If you have a specific image you want to use, you will need to write a letter or send an email to the person who holds the copyright of the image and ask permission to use the image.  In some cases, the copyright owner of the image will allow you to use the image for free, but in many cases they may request you pay a fee for the right to use it.

There are a number of stock photo sites that will sell you images and the right to use the image in your book for a nominal fee.  My favorite image sites are:

• www.istockphoto.com
• www.Shutterstock.com
• www.Fotosearch.com

This is a FREE stock photo site with over 350,000 images:

• http://www.sxc.hu/

Wikepedia offers a list of image resources for public domain images:

•  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.php?curid=63057

Wikepedia is a good spot to search for images as the copyright restrictions on images are clearly labeled and many have been released into the public domain or are available for restricted use.

Images of People

If you took a picture of a group of individuals you may or may not need to get their permission to use the image in your book.

If you are using the image for editorial purposes, it’s usually okay to use them without permission.

If you are using photos with people in them for advertising, you need their permission.  People have the right to profit from their photograph or likeness and this right continues after death and is given to their heirs

Usually, using an image on the cover of your book would be considered an image for advertising purposes (since your cover is used to promote and sell your book) and using an image inside your book would be considered for editorial purposes.  For example, If you have pictures inside your book showing people white water rafting down a river, you will probably not need their permission. If you put that same picture on the cover of your book, however, you should get their permission.

Logos and Brand Names

Be wary of using logos, symbols, brand names, company names, and trademarks in an image.  Even using very old images of a brand name or trademark still in use, can get you in trouble.

Please note that I am not a lawyer and I am not engaged in rendering legal services.  When working with legal issues, or if you have any questions on using a photo in your book, you should always seek experienced, professional counsel.

Quotes from published books
Generally you need to get permission if you quote, in total, more than 100 words from a published book.  Less than 100 words is usually considered fair use for which you don’t have to have permission.

Quotes from periodicals
Generally, you need to get permission if you quote, in total, 50 words or more from a magazine or journal.  Less than 50 words is usually considered fair use for which you don’t have to have permission.

Quotes from poems or song lyrics
You must have permission to quote from a poem or song if you use two lines or more.

Quotes from a book, magazine or song published previous to 1923
Anything published previous to 1923 in the United States is considered in the Public Domain and you can use the material in your book without permission.

Quoting the Bible 
The King James Version of the Bible is in the Public Domain since it was published previous to 1923.  Most every modern Bible translation has a permissions web site that outlines how you can quote their Bible translation.  Typically, they allow you to quote from their Bible translation proving you provide proper copyright attribution; the quotes do not comprise an entire book of the Bible, and the quotes are less than 25 percent of the entire work.

Using Pictures and Graphics
You need to have permission of the photographer or artist to publish their photo or artwork in your book.  Just because a picture is on the web, does NOT mean that it is in the Public Domain.

Your best bet in using pictures for your book is to purchase images from a stock photo company (such as www.istock.com) where they have the rights to the images and will sell those rights to you for a nominal fee.

The other site that is good for finding images you can use in your book (especially if you need photos of a public figure) is Wikipedia. Wikipedia always indicates if an image they use on their site is in the Public Domain and, if not, they will tell what you need to do to get permission to use the image.

Using Pictures You Have Taken
Usually, you need to have permission to use a photo from anyone in the picture that is recognizable.

When in doubt, get permission or check with your attorney