Copy-riot: Use of Book Covers

THE COLUMN OF THE LIANZA STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT

USE OF BOOK COVERS BY SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN AOTEAROA

The New Zealand Society of Authors, Publishers Association of New Zealand, Copyright Licensing New Zealand, LIANZA and SLANZA have made a joint statement enabling the reproduction of book covers for promotional purposes by libraries – but what does this mean in practice?

CAN I REPRODUCE ANY BOOK COVER?

No, the agreement only covers books where the copyright is held by a New Zealand publisher (this may be extended to include Australian publishers in the future – but not currently).

CAN ANYONE COPY A BOOK COVER?

No, you must be employed by a prescribed library (as defined in the Copyright Act 1994 Sec 50). This includes all school and public libraries.

WHAT CAN I DO WITH THE BOOK COVER IMAGE?

You can photocopy it to use in a display, or poster. You can scan the image to use in a catalogue, on social media or websites, and any place you are promoting the book or author. You should try to use the whole image where practical.

WHAT CAN’T I DO WITH THE BOOK COVER IMAGE?

You can’t use it to make money (e.g. selling t-shirts of the image) and the moral rights of the author, the designer and the creator of any artwork need to be considered, so you can’t treat the image in a derogatory way, or cut up the copy to use in an art project.

WHAT ABOUT BOOK COVERS FROM NON-NEW ZEALAND PUBLISHERS?

Book covers will usually carry their own copyright in addition to that of the book, so copying covers without the permission of the copyright owners would be a breach of copyright. If you wish to copy book covers from non-new Zealand publishers you should seek permission from publishers before doing this. It is likely that many publishers would agree since your use of the covers would promote their publications. School libraries should be aware that SLANZA already has permission from several publishers, including some overseas ones, for SLANZA members only to use book cover images to promote reading in school libraries. The details of that arrangement are here: http://www.slanza.org.nz/list-of-publisherspermissions-for-book-coverimages.html

However, there are lots of great New Zealand book covers out there, so why not take up this opportunity to promote the wonderful range of New Zealand publications?

STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AT LIANZA CONFERENCE 2019

Come find out more about copyright at the conference workshop Copy-riot: chocolate, cards and copyright on Wednesday 23rd October where committee LSCC Chair Sarah Powell from AUT Library will lead the audience in a fun, interactive game where you get to eat chocolate, play cards and learn about copyright!