How Can Authors Get Permission to Use Quotes, Lyrics and Images in a Book?

A quotation fits perfectly at the beginning of Chapter Four. An old family photograph makes a memoir scene more powerful. A screenshot explains a business case study better than several paragraphs could. A song lyric captures exactly what a fictional character is feeling.

Then comes the less creative question:

Can you legally publish it?

Authors regularly work with material created by other people. Some uses may qualify as fair use. Some material may be in the public domain. Some may carry a Creative Commons license that already permits certain uses. In many other situations, the safest route is to obtain permission from the copyright owner before publication.

Professional book copyright permissions work is therefore less about collecting credits and more about understanding what rights the book actually needs.

This article discusses U.S. copyright principles for general informational purposes. It is not legal advice. Copyright questions can be highly fact-specific, particularly when a book contains substantial quotations, unpublished material, recognizable people, lyrics, photographs, or commercially important third-party content. Consult a qualified attorney when the legal position is uncertain.

Finding Something Online Does Not Make It Free to Publish

Copyright protection generally arises when an original work is created and fixed in a tangible form. Registration is not required for copyright to exist. A photograph, poem, article, illustration, letter, or song can therefore be protected even when there is no copyright notice attached to it.

This matters because authors frequently encounter material through:

• Google Images
• Social media
• Blogs
• Online archives
• News websites
• Digital libraries
• Pinterest
• Company websites
• Old family collections

Public visibility is not the same as public-domain status.

Neither is ownership of a physical copy.

If your grandmother gave you an original photograph, you may own that piece of paper without owning copyright in the image. The U.S. Copyright Office explains that the photographer is generally the author of a photograph unless a work-made-for-hire arrangement applies. Copyright can also later be transferred to someone else.

The first permissions question should therefore be:

Who owns the rights?

Start With a Third-Party Content Audit

Do not wait until the book has already been typeset.

Review the manuscript specifically for material you did not create.

Mark:

• Prose quotations
• Song lyrics
• Poetry
• Photographs
• Paintings
• Illustrations
• Maps
• Charts
• Tables
• Screenshots
• Social media posts
• Letters
• Emails
• Diary entries
• Interview transcripts
• Archival documents
• Film or television dialogue

Create a separate record for each item.

This early audit is especially useful when building a nonfiction book proposal around archival, historical, musical, or visual source material. If the entire project depends on expensive or unavailable permissions, the author should know that before the book reaches final production.

The same applies when preparing a literary agent submission package. You do not necessarily need every permission completed before querying, but you should understand whether major third-party material creates a rights or cost issue.

There Is No Universal “Safe” Quotation Length

Authors sometimes rely on informal rules such as:

“You can quote 50 words without permission.”

“Ten percent is always fair use.”

“Four lines of a song are fine.”

U.S. copyright law does not provide those automatic allowances.

The Copyright Office specifically states that there is no legal rule allowing a fixed number of words, musical notes, or percentage of a copyrighted work. Whether a particular quotation qualifies as fair use depends on the circumstances.

A two-sentence quotation from a long factual report may raise different issues from two lines containing the most recognizable part of a song.

Quantity matters, but significance matters too.

Fair Use Requires a Four-Factor Analysis

Fair use can permit unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Courts evaluate four statutory factors:

1. The purpose and character of the use
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality used
4. The effect on the potential market for the original

No single factor automatically decides the result. The analysis is case-specific.

For an author, useful questions include:

Why am I reproducing this material?
Are you analyzing it, criticizing it, or simply using it decoratively?

What kind of work is it?
Using material from a factual publication may present a different fair-use argument from reproducing highly creative poetry, fiction, music, or artwork.

How much am I using?
Use only what your purpose reasonably requires.

Could my use substitute for the original or harm its licensing market?
A use that replaces the need to obtain the original work may weigh against fair use.

Fair use should not be reduced to “I credited the creator, so it is fine.”

Attribution and permission are separate questions.

Song Lyrics Deserve Particular Caution

Lyrics create frequent problems because songs are highly creative works and even a small portion may be recognizable or important.

Possible uses include:

• Chapter epigraphs
• Dialogue
• Character thoughts
• Memoir scenes
• Book titles
• Marketing graphics
• Amazon A+ Content for books
• Trailer scripts

There is no automatic lyric allowance under U.S. copyright law. The Copyright Office explicitly notes that no fixed number of musical notes or words can automatically be used without permission.

If a lyric is simply creating mood or emotional resonance, obtaining permission or replacing it may be safer than assuming fair use.

Possible alternatives include:

• Mentioning the song title without reproducing lyrics
• Describing the song
• Writing original text that creates the same emotional effect
• Choosing public-domain material

When lyrics are central to the project, investigate permissions early. Fees can affect whether the quotation remains commercially practical.

Poetry Can Carry Similar Risk

A few lines of poetry may represent a meaningful portion of a short poem.

Using an entire stanza as an epigraph is different from quoting a phrase while critically discussing the poem.

Ask:

• Is the poem still protected?
• Is the quotation necessary?
• Is the book analyzing the poem?
• How much of the work is being used?
• Is permission available?
• What will it cost?

A literary quotation that seems short in absolute terms can still be substantial in relation to the original work.

Photographs and Artwork Require Rights Research

For photographs, identify:

• Photographer
• Current copyright owner
• Source
• Person or property shown
• Date
• Intended reproduction size
• Whether alterations are planned

For artwork, also identify:

• Artist
• Gallery or archive
• Estate
• Licensing agency
• Owner of the physical work
• Owner of reproduction rights

Owning an original painting does not necessarily mean owning copyright in it.

Commissioned work also deserves careful review. A creator does not automatically lose copyright simply because someone paid for the work. U.S. work-made-for-hire rules are specific, and certain commissioned works qualify only under defined circumstances and written agreements.

Authors commissioning new illustrations should put ownership and licensed uses in writing from the beginning.

Screenshots Can Contain Several Separate Rights

A screenshot may contain:

• Written content
• Photographs
• Logos
• Interface design
• Usernames
• Private information
• Advertisements
• Video thumbnails

One screenshot can therefore create several separate questions.

For example, a screenshot of a social media post may contain text written by one person, a photograph taken by another, and branding belonging to the platform.

Do not assume that taking the screenshot yourself gives you ownership of everything visible inside it.

Consider whether the book truly needs the image. In some cases, quoting or describing the relevant information may communicate the point more clearly.

Social Media Posts Are Still Authored Content

A public Instagram caption, X post, LinkedIn article, or Facebook post does not automatically become free publishing material.

The author of original written or visual material generally receives copyright protection once the work is created and fixed.

When using a post, consider:

• Copyright
• Fair use
• Privacy
• Context
• Whether the account belongs to a minor
• Whether deleting the username actually changes the legal issue

A post used for criticism or analysis may present a different argument from a post reproduced as decoration in a commercial book.

Letters and Emails May Belong to the Writer

Possessing a letter does not necessarily mean owning the copyright in its contents.

The writer of the letter is generally the author of the written expression unless rights have been transferred or another rule applies. Copyright ownership can also pass through assignments, wills, or other transfers.

This distinction matters particularly in:

• Memoir
• Biography
• Family history
• Historical nonfiction
• Archival research

A family may physically possess decades of correspondence while an author, estate, or successor still controls the copyright.

Unpublished material can also create a more difficult fair-use analysis. The Copyright Office notes that use of an unpublished work is generally less likely to favor fair use than use of a published work, although the complete analysis still depends on all four factors.

Maps, Charts, and Tables Need Their Own Review

Facts themselves are not protected by copyright, but a creator’s original expression, selection, arrangement, or visual presentation may be.

A book may therefore be able to use underlying factual information without simply copying another publisher’s designed table or map.

Ask whether you can:

• Return to the original data
• Verify the facts independently
• Create your own table
• Produce a new visualization
• Commission an original map

Professional fact checking a nonfiction book work is especially useful here because recreating a graphic from the underlying data requires confidence that the data itself is accurate.

Simply changing a table’s font and color does not necessarily make it a new work.

Public Domain Status Has to Be Confirmed

Public-domain works are not protected by copyright and can generally be used without the copyright owner’s permission.

The U.S. Copyright Office explains that copyright duration depends on factors including creation date, publication date, authorship, and work-made-for-hire status. For most works created on or after January 1, 1978, copyright generally lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. Different rules apply to older works.

As of 2026, the Copyright Office states that works published in the United States before January 1, 1931 are in the public domain because their copyright terms have expired.

Still, verify the particular version you plan to use.

A public-domain novel can appear inside a modern edition containing:

• New translation
• New introduction
• New illustrations
• New annotations
• New editorial material

Those newer contributions may have separate protection.

Creative Commons Does Not Mean “Anything Goes”

Creative Commons licenses give creators standardized ways to authorize certain reuse without requiring individual permission every time.

The exact license matters.

For example:

CC BY allows commercial reuse and adaptation with attribution.

CC BY-SA allows commercial reuse but requires adaptations to be shared under compatible terms.

CC BY-ND allows redistribution, including commercial redistribution, but not distribution of adapted versions.

CC BY-NC allows reuse only for noncommercial purposes.

A commercially sold book should not assume that “NC” material is available simply because credit is provided.

Creative Commons also warns that its licenses may not address every relevant right. Privacy, publicity, or other rights may still affect the use.

Save evidence of the license and its terms when you download the material.

Permission Should Cover the Whole Publishing Plan

A vague “yes, you can use it” email may create problems later.

Your request should define the rights you need.

Consider:

• Exact material
• Print
• eBook
• Audiobook where relevant
• Large-print editions
• Language
• Territory
• Edition
• Print quantity
• Duration
• Promotional use
• Website use
• Retail marketing
• Social promotion

If you expect to use the image later in an author media kit, book sell sheet, or Goodreads marketing for authors campaign, request promotional rights instead of assuming interior permission includes them.

The same applies to an author email list campaign.

Authors planning to turn podcast into a book should also review permissions from guests, cohosts, photographers, music licensors, and other contributors before reproducing episode material.

An audiobook narrator audition does not solve underlying text permissions. Material cleared for print should be checked again for audio use when the agreement limits formats.

Permission Fees Can Change the Editorial Decision

Rights holders may:

• Grant permission free
• Charge a flat fee
• Charge by print run
• Restrict territories
• Restrict formats
• Require specific credits
• Limit duration
• Refuse permission

Before paying, ask whether the material is essential.

A $1,500 licensing fee for a two-line epigraph may make little commercial sense for an independently published title.

Possible responses include:

• Remove it
• Paraphrase where legally appropriate
• Replace it
• Find a public-domain alternative
• Create original material
• Negotiate narrower rights

The permissions process is partly legal and partly editorial.

Keep a Permissions Log

A permissions log prevents important approvals from disappearing inside email threads.

Coordinate this document with the book editing style sheet so credits, creator names, titles, and source wording remain consistent.

Finish major permissions work before learning how to index a book against final pagination. Removing a quotation, photograph, or entire section after indexing can shift page references and create unnecessary rework.

Sample Permission-Request Email

Subject: Permission Request for [Material] in [Book Title]

Dear [Rights Holder],

I am requesting permission to reproduce the following material in my forthcoming book, [Book Title]:

Material: [Exact quotation, image, artwork, table, or description]
Creator: [Name]
Source: [Original publication or collection]
Proposed use: [Brief explanation of context]

The book is a [genre/subject] title intended for [audience] and is scheduled for publication in [month/year].

I am requesting nonexclusive permission for:

• Print and eBook editions
• Large-print editions
• English-language publication
• Worldwide distribution
• Future revised editions
• Reasonable promotional use connected with the book

The expected retail price is approximately $[price], and the initial print quantity is estimated at [number], if applicable.

Please let me know whether you control the necessary rights and whether any fee, credit line, restrictions, or additional agreement would apply.

Thank you for considering my request.

Sincerely,
[Author Name]
[Publisher or Imprint]
[Email Address]

The U.S. Copyright Office recommends contacting the copyright owner directly when ownership is known and provides searchable records that may help investigate ownership when it is unclear.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Authors Use Short Quotes Without Permission?

Sometimes. Fair use may permit limited quotation, but there is no universal number of words that is automatically safe. The four fair-use factors and the circumstances of the use must be considered.

Does Giving Credit Mean Permission Is Not Needed?

No. Attribution identifies the creator, but it does not automatically create a license to reproduce protected material. Some licenses, including Creative Commons licenses, specifically require attribution as one condition of authorized use.

Can Authors Use Song Lyrics in a Book?

Possibly, but there is no automatic safe lyric length. Because lyrics are highly creative and even short passages may be significant, authors should evaluate fair use carefully or seek permission.

Are Old Photographs Automatically in the Public Domain?

No. Age alone does not establish public-domain status. Copyright duration depends on factors such as creation, publication, authorship, and applicable copyright law.

Can Authors Use Creative Commons Images in Commercial Books?

It depends on the license. CC BY generally permits commercial reuse with attribution, while licenses containing the NC condition prohibit commercial use unless separate permission is obtained.

What Should an Author Do If the Copyright Owner Cannot Be Found?

Document the ownership search carefully and do not assume that an unsuccessful search makes the work free to use. Consider replacing the material, investigating public-domain status, evaluating whether a statutory exception may apply, or seeking advice from a copyright attorney.