I've noticed that calligraphers often use other people's quotes in their work. I do papercutting and am interested in using other people's quotes in my pieces.

Does anyone know the rules regarding this? Like...does the person whose quote you want to use need to be deceased in order for it to be OK? Do you just need to give credit?

Any help here would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jasper

Definitely safe:

- Things in books of quotations, like Bartlett's.
- Holy scripture (Bible, Koran, Torah, Diamond Sutra, &ct. Not, apparently, Dianetics, which the Scientologists get very cranky if you don't pay for).

Probably safe:

- The author is long dead. 19th century and previous writers are pretty fair game; look at gutenberg.org, and if the work is there, you can use it.

Marginally safe:

- Anything, as long as you're not using more than a sentence or two, and that for non-commercial purposes. If it's art for arts sake, and you're not selling it, you've got pretty free reign.

Uh oh...Now, I think I owe you money.

I'd put this in the probably safe category.

Thanks for the response.

I do sell my work. But like i said...a lot of calligraphers use other people's quotes in their work, and i would assume they are trying to sell their pieces...so i guess i'm still not totally clear.

Hmm...
~Jas

Here is a link to the government site regarding the subject of copyrights. U. S. Copyright Office There is a list of frequently asked questions that may be of immediate help to you.
There are a lot of instances around of unauthorized use of copyrighted work and just because it is out there does not mean it is usable or free. Always best to have a good understanding of the waters before diving in. Yes, you may quote me on that! /Craig

The best thing would be to go for work that is in the public domain. Either because the copyright has expired, or because the artist has released it that way.

Creative Commons work is frequently available that way. There are several CC licenses, one of which is "non-commercial" but there are others that would be very usable as a source.

Did you have a quote in mind?

Eric

Regarding the Bible, some English translations are copyrighted, and some are not. I would advise checking the Bible you are copying prior to using it without permission of the copyright holder. King James Version is definitely not copyrighted, as it dates from 1611.

Donnie

Ars gratia artis ™ Metro Goldwyn Mayer ?

Nuh uh... Its much older than MGM.

Selling the artwork isn't necessarily commercial...

Let me try to explain. If I take a photo of a person on the street as "art" I can sell the photo print as art without the person's permission or a release. Its "non-commercial". But if I want to use that photo in a brochure, or to advertise my photos, or my art, or sell it to a publisher to use in an advertisement, then it becomes commercial and requires a release.

Of course its still more considerate and polite to ask permission and get a release against the possibility of unknown future uses. I don't know if the comparison is exactly the same when using a quote.

Oh, heck. There's a ' missing. Art for art's sake, dang nab it!

Surely you can quote anything so long as it is not too long. I mean if you write an essay for example you write the quote and then reference it. You would not want to quote something too big though, as an exaggerated example if you quoted an entire book you would essentially be ripping the person off who wrote it since they would not be making any money out of it. If for example I was to quote this:

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

I would write underneath it something like:

Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146.

Also note that Friedrich Nietzsche is dead however, I am not entirely sure about this and modern writers but I don't see why it would not apply.