If I ever decide to write a book, how do I begin to get permissions for images/stories to be used?

[Mysticpuma]

That is a huge question and I realise it could have a huge answer too, however my reason for asking is that a lot of the images I have were taken by the USAAF. Some have since been published in books and others have come from family members or relatives.

Firstly all the interviews I have conducted I would presume are my copyright, but to quote from them do I need a 'model release' or can I just get written permission (or do I need any)?

Secondly if pictures, information and stories have been previously published is there a set procedure for getting permission to use their material (I realise I can't just copy it!) and if the company who published it no-longer exists...what do you do then?

Lastly, is it worth the effort? I realise that some military aviation books are very sought after, but I also realise that is because the runs are limited, so they are much more 'wanted'.

I have no knowledge of publishing a book, but think that the stories and anecdotes I have managed to gather in 5-years of researching the 325th Fighter Group "The Checkertail Clan", may be of interest to some?

Thanks for any advice, cheers, MP

[Horst Weber]

Good evening MP !

About twenty years ago, I started the same task as you. My books about the air-war events in WW II over the area Bitburg - Prüm (West Germany) including the touched areas in the neigbourhood like Luxemburg Trier, Wittlich, Daun and East Belgium. The books were released in 2001 and 2003 and I had similar questions.

- If you have images or reports, which were are an original source of the USAAF and you gained it from an official archive, are these images/written stuff like op-reps, op-summaries e.g. PUBLIC DOMAIN. This means, anyone can use it in a printed publication, but showing this source in a footnote.

- Private images depend on the particular Countries laws. Here in Germany, the law is as follows: If a privat photo hasn't been published within 50 years after it's creation officially (newspaper e.g.) and no particular copyright had been established, will this photo also fall under the public domain. Anyone can use and publish it with the source in a footnote.

- Unfortunately, I have no idea, how this German example for private images is handled in U.S., U.K., France or Italy.

- There are some different ways to publish the book. You go to a publisher with your manuscript. Gaining profit, he will tell you, that you have to get him atleast one-thousand subscrpters, and he will print about 1000-1200 copies. But the forework has to be done by you.

-In my example, my history club had the printing and publishing costs, whilst I got a percentage of each sold book. After a while, the costs had equalized and they made a little profit. But by thousand copies for each issue, no big amountd coming around.

- Do not believe, please, that you become rich with such a project !

- Undoubtfully, you are enriching the local scene of enthusiats/historians/veteran-orgs. with new facts.

If you are further interested, send me a PN, please.

Good luck and all the best !

Horst Weber

[edwest]

I would start with the US Copyright Office:

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html


Book companies may exist for a short time and close up shop. Since the end of the war, book publishers have been bought by larger companies, merged with others or closed.

The first thing is to make a commitment. How do you decide if it's worth it? It depends on your goal(s).

1) Make money. It is possible and the company I work for has been in business for decades.

2) The story needs to be told.

3) Perhaps you only have one book you want to do. That doesn't matter as long as enough people know about it. You can get feedback here and elsewhere.

Yes, it is possible to make a living doing this. Or to publish one book and make a profit. You could turn the book over to an established publisher but then you would need to use an attorney to insure the contract is fair.


Best,
Ed