Quoting poetry in a novel?

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maybegenius
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Quoting poetry in a novel?

Post by maybegenius » November 5th, 2010, 12:56 am

I apologize if something similar has been asked before --

Is it okay to quote a line of, say, Shakespeare or Poe in a mystery as a clue, with the assumption that it will be acknowledged at some point that it is a line from one of their poems?
aka S.E. Sinkhorn, or Steph

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stephmcgee
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Re: Quoting poetry in a novel?

Post by stephmcgee » November 5th, 2010, 3:23 pm

I think so. I'd check and see if these two have fallen into public domain. I am pretty sure that Shakespeare is. Not so sure about Poe.

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Nathan Bransford
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Re: Quoting poetry in a novel?

Post by Nathan Bransford » November 7th, 2010, 10:37 am

I'm not a publishing attorney so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but if the work is in the public domain you don't have to clear permission. If it is under copyright you do.

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