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Today's question is a legal one, which I don't usually take on — but this one I can answer with confidence, since it comes up in a lot of forms: when is it okay to use someone else's book, article, or other creative work in your own project?
Hi Chris, it's Lisa from Sydney, Australia. I'm a big fan and have been listening to the show for a few years now. I've had some success with my first side hustle, and I'm now looking to launch my second, which involves books and reading — something I'm passionate about. I'm struggling to find out how I get permission from an author to use their work. I've spent hours online trying to find the answer and got nowhere. My question is, should I just use their work anyway and start now?
This falls under what's called fair use in the United States, or fair dealing in Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Fair use covers critique and review — a YouTube creator posting a short movie clip and commenting on it is protected, for example — and parody or satire, as long as it's clearly labeled. A short quote or excerpt from a book is generally fine; copying a whole chapter, or dropping large chunks of someone else's text into your own book or blog, is not. Here's an example from my own writing: while working on a nonfiction book, I wanted to reference an idea from the novel The Three-Body Problem. I described the concept, quoted a couple of sentences, and credited the author. That's fair use.
Fair dealing works on the same basic principle but is more restrictive, spelling out specific categories instead of leaving room for new situations — which is why using a VCR to record television at home was ruled legal in the US in 1984, while Australia didn't add a similar exemption until 2006, by which point almost nobody owned a VCR. The rules differ by country, so look up fair use or fair dealing for where you live, and if you're still unsure, talk to an actual lawyer instead of a podcast host.
Have a question? Visit SideHustleSchool.com/questions.
