Stephen King Biography, Information, Facts ...

[Harmony Wellsprings]

I almost quoted Stephen King on my blog, only a few sentences, I didn't because the quote wasn't entirely apt, I actually quoted Mother Theresa instead (I don't think she will sue me, I hope not!), but I didn't know there was anything wrong with that. He sometimes quotes songs and other authors in his books, I know because I usually read whatever book he's mentioned or quoted, or listen to whatever song he's brought up. Does he have to pay for that or ask permission? If anything, they should sorta pay him, not that he needs the money, but he's basically selling books for them since I'm sure I'm not the only reader who reads whatever he thinks is worth a mention.

 

[Moderator]

I almost quoted Stephen King on my blog, only a few sentences, I didn't because the quote wasn't entirely apt, I actually quoted Mother Theresa instead (I don't think she will sue me, I hope not!), but I didn't know there was anything wrong with that. He sometimes quotes songs and other authors in his books, I know because I usually read whatever book he's mentioned or quoted, or listen to whatever song he's brought up. Does he have to pay for that or ask permission? If anything, they should sorta pay him, not that he needs the money, but he's basically selling books for them since I'm sure I'm not the only reader who reads whatever he thinks is worth a mention.

It depends on whether it falls into the fair use rules category. Most of the time with songs, it is required that he get permission and pay a fee to use any lyrics he quotes.

 

[Harmony Wellsprings]

It depends on whether it falls into the fair use rules category. Most of the time with songs, it is required that he get permission and pay a fee to use any lyrics he quotes.

Thanks for the reply! Good to know!

 

[Pauljjj]

Hi, does this author have permission to print all these quotes? 800 Stephen King Quotes: Interesting, Clever And Funny Quotes By Stephen King eBook: Robert Taylor: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

 

[Moderator]

Hi, does this author have permission to print all these quotes? 800 Stephen King Quotes: Interesting, Clever And Funny Quotes By Stephen King eBook: Robert Taylor: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

The seller did not contact him to obtain permission.

 

[blunthead]

My apologies--that's why the name sounded familiar. Since the book had been removed from Amazon I wasn't able to cross-check there and didn't think to check my pms.

We'd have to know more about the book you're writing and the quotes in context before being able to say yes or no.

Oops, I did the exact same thing, Mod.

 

[Pauljjj]

Will he be getting sued?

 

[Moderator]

Will he be getting sued?

Unlikely, but that doesn't necessarily mean we won't be following up if it's not allowed under fair usage rules.

 

[Pauljjj]

Those are exactly the type of quotes I wanted to put in my book.

 

[Moderator]

Those are exactly the type of quotes I wanted to put in my book.

And we would have done the same in your case.

 

[Pauljjj]

Fair usage is 400 words, yes?

 

[Moderator]

Fair usage is 400 words, yes?

Could be. I don't have it committed to memory and seems like there are other conditions than just the number of words used. I'd have to look up the actual text of the fair usage law and I'm not a lawyer so not really qualified to give a legally binding response.

 

[Bev Vincent]

Fair use is so nebulous that each case has to be treated individually. For my books, I obtained written permission from anyone I quoted or interviewed, regardless of how much or how little I used.

 

[Pauljjj]

It just gets worse, check out this dipstick who's passing himself off as Big Ste. Miss Mod? Descendants eBook: Stephen King: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

 

[Moderator]

It just gets worse, check out this dipstick who's passing himself off as Big Ste. Miss Mod? Descendants eBook: Stephen King: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

We're aware of him. He claims his name is Stephen King so there's nothing we can do about it and it's a case of buyer beware.

 

[carrie's younger brother]

Fair use is so nebulous that each case has to be treated individually. For my books, I obtained written permission from anyone I quoted or interviewed, regardless of how much or how little I used.

That's how we did it when I worked in subsidiary rights in publishing. Sometimes if it was just a sentence we'd refer the person to the Permissions department, but for most things we drew up a short agreement to cover not only the user's butt but our own as well.

 

[Pauljjj]

We're aware of him. He claims his name is Stephen King so there's nothing we can do about it and it's a case of buyer beware.

But when you click on that guy's name it links to the real SK's author profile.

 

[Moderator]

But when you click on that guy's name it links to the real SK's author profile.

I know. We've already been in contact with Amazon but it could take 2-3 days for them to fix it on their end. We've been through this numerous times with them before.