What a lovely post. I have a few things to say about sharing poetry that is not public domain. Everyone does it but it’s like Napster in a way. It is intellectual property and belongs to someone. Yeah, it stinks but that is how it works. It is why I only take minimal excerpts of poems if I do not have the poet’s permission. The Mary Oliver post I wrote a while back? I didn’t reprint the poems. Taylor Swift lyrics for that post? I didn’t quote a single lyric. People can find them on their own. In the author’s case re: Auden, print is very restrictive. They can charge whatever they want. Some poets don’t make it into comprehensive anthologies because they poet or the estate charges too much. You might be able to tell that I think about this issue quite a bit as someone who likes to write about poetry. The Substack I always mention Poems Ancient and Modern also get permission. There are fair use rules that could make it possible to quote poems for educational purposes, but I’d rather not. I am very risk averse. Anyway, had to rant. Also, it’s an explanation as to why I don’t write about certain poets or poems.
What I find a little perplexing is what one can and cannot do as far as linking to poems online. In other words, many living poets have entire poems online at sites such as Poetry Foundation. Here's a link to one our group referred to at our Stevens/Billy Collins meeting:
Is it acceptable for me to display this link? Is it not acceptable for me to copy and paste the text of the poem to my post? This is all of interest in light of what happened to Ada Calhoun in attempting to write her Frank O'Hara book. O'Hara's sister, who controls his estate, would not grant permission at all to Calhoun, which led to two results: 1.) There's no O"Hara poem in the book and 2.) The book mutated into a much more original and powerful book as a result.
Well, basically you can link in good faith because the other party DID get permission, but you are not allowed to reprint unless you get permission, even then you may have to pay a fee. Sometimes it’s reasonable. Sometimes it’s not. The Eliot estate is particularly expensive from what I hear. I know a couple of editors who reprinted his work. Unfortunately he’s such a major poet that in order to have a certain type of complete anthology it’s necessary to pony up the cash.
Love this post and the discussion. I found this online
"You can use up to 10%, but no more than 1000 words, of essays, articles, or stories, of a single copyrighted work. You can use up to 250 words of an entire poem, or a portion of a poem."
I find that almost any topic/question I ever search for on the web, I can find a valid answer, but so far, I haven't been able to find commentary on the question of linking from my post to a poem under copyright, but featured in full on a major poetry website. I'm happy that Zina says I can link in good faith, on the presumption that not only did the poetry website get permission, but that when permission was granted, the assumption was that the poem would be online and fair game for being linked to.
What a lovely post. I have a few things to say about sharing poetry that is not public domain. Everyone does it but it’s like Napster in a way. It is intellectual property and belongs to someone. Yeah, it stinks but that is how it works. It is why I only take minimal excerpts of poems if I do not have the poet’s permission. The Mary Oliver post I wrote a while back? I didn’t reprint the poems. Taylor Swift lyrics for that post? I didn’t quote a single lyric. People can find them on their own. In the author’s case re: Auden, print is very restrictive. They can charge whatever they want. Some poets don’t make it into comprehensive anthologies because they poet or the estate charges too much. You might be able to tell that I think about this issue quite a bit as someone who likes to write about poetry. The Substack I always mention Poems Ancient and Modern also get permission. There are fair use rules that could make it possible to quote poems for educational purposes, but I’d rather not. I am very risk averse. Anyway, had to rant. Also, it’s an explanation as to why I don’t write about certain poets or poems.
What I find a little perplexing is what one can and cannot do as far as linking to poems online. In other words, many living poets have entire poems online at sites such as Poetry Foundation. Here's a link to one our group referred to at our Stevens/Billy Collins meeting:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53810/fishing-on-the-susquehanna-in-july
Is it acceptable for me to display this link? Is it not acceptable for me to copy and paste the text of the poem to my post? This is all of interest in light of what happened to Ada Calhoun in attempting to write her Frank O'Hara book. O'Hara's sister, who controls his estate, would not grant permission at all to Calhoun, which led to two results: 1.) There's no O"Hara poem in the book and 2.) The book mutated into a much more original and powerful book as a result.
Well, basically you can link in good faith because the other party DID get permission, but you are not allowed to reprint unless you get permission, even then you may have to pay a fee. Sometimes it’s reasonable. Sometimes it’s not. The Eliot estate is particularly expensive from what I hear. I know a couple of editors who reprinted his work. Unfortunately he’s such a major poet that in order to have a certain type of complete anthology it’s necessary to pony up the cash.
Love this post and the discussion. I found this online
"You can use up to 10%, but no more than 1000 words, of essays, articles, or stories, of a single copyrighted work. You can use up to 250 words of an entire poem, or a portion of a poem."
from:
https://midway.libguides.com/copyright#:~:text=You%20can%20use%20up%20to,a%20portion%20of%20a%20poem.
I find that almost any topic/question I ever search for on the web, I can find a valid answer, but so far, I haven't been able to find commentary on the question of linking from my post to a poem under copyright, but featured in full on a major poetry website. I'm happy that Zina says I can link in good faith, on the presumption that not only did the poetry website get permission, but that when permission was granted, the assumption was that the poem would be online and fair game for being linked to.
On places like Poetry Foundation the page will list below the poem that permission was granted.