Rights and permissions

1. Is this book still in copyright?

Copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the author, so you might have to carry out some research to answer this question! Please note that SPCK is unable to search for this information on your behalf.

2. Do I need permission for a quote in my church newsletter or for use by a not-for-profit organization?

SPCK grants churches and other not-for-profit organizations permission to use material from publications copyrighted by SPCK Publishing in church bulletins, newsletters and other short-term non-book publications free of charge, within the following limits: the paragraphs quoted must not amount to a complete chapter of the book or account for 20% of the total work in which they are quoted. It is the responsibility of the author to check that the copyright of the book belongs to SPCK . We cannot grant permission for non-SPCK publications. Notice of copyright should appear in the work as follows: ‘[Title] by [author], copyright [date] by SPCK Publishing’. If you have any questions you can contact PLSclear.

3. What is fair dealing?

The practice called fair dealing allows free use of copyright material employed to illustrate an idea or comment or give weight to an argument, in research or private study, without the need for permission, under the following conditions:

Prose: A single extract under 400 words or several extracts from the same publication, each under 300 words and totalling under 800 words. Note below.

Poetry and songs: Fair dealing does not apply. Permission must be sought from the publisher for all extracts, and this will usually be granted on payment of a fee.

It is not necessary to request permission from SPCK unless these usages are exceeded. However, please note that if an extract is included in a commercially published project or as a piece that stands alone without comment on its content or direct relevance to surrounding material (e.g. as an extract in an anthology of prayers, meditations or poetry), permission must be sought to include the extract no matter what its length and a fee may apply.

4. Permissions Requests

All permission requests that do not fall under the church newsletter exception in section 2 or fair dealing criteria in section 3 must be referred to PLSclear

• title and author of the SPCK book from which you wish to use material 
• title and author and publisher of your book 
• territory of distribution for your book (UK, EU, world, etc.) 
• print run (total number of copies to be printed) 
• publication date of your book 
• price of your book 
• your complete postal address, email address, telephone and fax numbers