Guidelines : Requesting Permission

Requesting Permission

Guidelines and Alternate Phrases

• Pave the way for the request by telling who you are and how you plan to use the quoted material.
• Request permission for the specific material to be used. If you are telling an anecdote, supply a copy of how you will word the story and in what context. If you are using printed material, be specific about page, lines, figures, photos, and so forth.
• Give the exact use of the material: One-time limited use? In all foreign translations? On video? On audio? In all associated product brochures and manuals?
• Suggest a permission line to be used to show copyright, or ask the granter of the rights to do so.
• Reprinted by courtesy of Holdern Corporation.
• Courtesy of Tom Mitchell Group, Inc.
• Reprinted by permission from Banking in America, by Harold Smith, Harper and Row Publishers, copyright 19–.
• Make it easy for the reader to respond: include copies of anything to be reprinted, the context of the reprint, and permission forms or approval-signature space on your letter of request.
• Thank the reader.
• I appreciate your cooperation.
• Thank you for your courtesy in allowing this use of your material.
• Thank you for granting permission for this limited use.
• Such statistics in our handbook will be of great benefit in adding credibility to our own company studies. We appreciate your help.

Example 1: Sample request letter for permission

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip
Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Mr. Johnson:

I am preparing a speech on corporate ethics to be delivered at the ARP national convention November 6. At a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting, Dave Ferguson used a story about your business and your convictions on not permitting your staff members to enter a competitor’s booth during a trade show. I’d like to use that anecdote in my speech if you don’t mind.

Dave gave me some statistics and other particulars, but I wanted to check with you for verification. Therefore, I’ve enclosed a small segment of the speech that relates to you. Would you mind glancing over this portion and verifying, correcting, or adding any other comments you feel further describe your feelings on the ethics of this situation?

Thank you for your help in making this an inspiring speech for our convention audience.

Sincerely,

Example 2: Letters for permission

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Mr. Hanlon:

I am writing an article for our company newsletter about the rising awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace. I would like permission to quote the definition of sexual harassment you gave in your 1997 book, The Office Minefield.

The quote I wish to use is on page 112, beginning on line 22 with “Sexual harassment is…” and ending on line 24 with “…of disapproval.” (Please see enclosure for full excerpt.)

I have enclosed two copies of this letter. If you will grant permission, please sign below and return one to me in the enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope. You can keep the other copy for your records. Your signature indicates your permission to reprint your words only for this limited use. In no way do you forfeit your right to the copyrighted material.

Unless you specify otherwise, I will footnote your quote, “from Ronald Hanlon’s The Office Minefield (Wellfield & Brown, 1997).”

I think your definition succinctly nails down some complicated issues. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Agreed to and accepted by:

_________________________________________________________________
Signature Title Date

Example 3: Request permission for published article

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Mrs. Parillo:

The Floyd comic strip you published in the Detroit Inquirer on June 27 made the rounds in our office for several days. We were struck by the way you captured the pitfalls of taking a leadership position. I would like to use your cartoon in the material I plan to distribute at an annual executive training seminar. The seminar hosts approximately 40 executive trainees yearly.

The comic strip will not be used to endorse any of our products. I would like to use it on the title page of a handout entitled “Earning Leadership.” Enclosed is a copy of the proposed title page with your comic strip.

If someone other than you owns the copyright, will you please tell me how I may contact them?

To indicate your approval for this limited use, please sign below and return one copy to me in the envelope provided. I will credit the strip according to your directions.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Agreed to and accepted by:

__________________________________________________________________
Signature Title Date

Example 4: Request for give permission for print article

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Mr. Leeds:

On December 19, I will give a speech to Wilson Broadcasting’s shareholders at our annual meeting. The speech will focus on efforts to make our company more efficient and environmentally responsible. I would like to request permission to quote a portion of your essay, “The Benefits of Down-Sizing America” from your Web page. Your essay is keen observation of America’s “love affair with consumption.”

Specifically, I would like to quote the following two sections:

• From line 11, beginning with “Status in America….”
to line 12, ending with “…a two-car garage.”

• And, from line 32, beginning with “The future health….”
to line 35, ending with “…commitment to change.”

I have attached the section of the speech where I would like to use your words. Of course, I would give you full credit.

The speech will also be published in our January shareholders’ newsletter, “Wilson Notes,“ distributed to approximately 650 people.

Would you sign the enclosed portion of my speech to indicate your consent? Thank you for improving my speech with your words.

Sincerely,

Example 5: Requesting Permission

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Ms. Gallaudet:

I am writing a book for Martin & Brown Publishers that is scheduled to be released in March of 1999. The book, entitled Off Track: An American History of Public Transportation, deals with the philosophies, failures, and successes of mass transit in the United States. The statistics on passenger rail you quoted in your speech to the Stanton Civic Club would complement my discussion of federal rail subsidies. I would like your permission to use them in my book, if possible.

I have attached the statistics I wish to use. Please verify they are correct and sign at the bottom of the page to indicate that you grant permission. If you obtained the statistics from another source, please let me know.

I sincerely appreciate your assistance. Thank you.

Yours Truly,

Guidelines : Refusing Permission

Refusing Permission

Guidelines and Alternate Phrases

• Begin on a neutral or positive note about the specific permission request.
• Thank you for writing us about reprinting the newsletter column by Meg Whittier.
• We appreciate your kind comments about Mark Hatter’s new book, Time and Tax.
• We’re glad you enjoyed our editorial on creative penalties for drunk drivers.
• Explain your reasons and then decline to give permission.
• Mention any conditions under which you will reconsider.
• If there were no fees involved in your workshops, we would be happy to grant such permission.
• If the design is changed in later printings of your brochure, we will be happy to re-evaluate your request.
• Reestablish rapport with a general goodwill statement.
• Thank you for writing.
• We wish you well in your training project.
• Let us know if we can provide assistance in another way.
• We appreciate your letting us know of your interest in the material, and we wish we could help.

Example 1: Refusing letter to editor

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip
Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Jack:

I received your note about using the Hartford story in your upcoming tour. As you know, tales have a way of growing through retelling–particularly, my retelling. To be quite honest, I’m not sure all the figures I used are exactly correct. Time muddles the memory, and I don’t even know how to tell you where I got the numbers so you can verify and update them.

I know Raymond is depending on this media blitz to turn things around, and I believe we know each other’s thinking sufficiently so that I am correct in assuming you want every incident to be accurate and verifiable for any press people who would pick things apart. For all these reasons, I’d rather you not quote me and not use the story.

My best wishes for your tour efforts.

Sincerely,

Example 2: Refusal letter for reprint article

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip
Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Ms. Singer:

We received your request to reprint the material from Joe Davis’s article as it appeared in our company magazine. We get such requests frequently and like to think they are a compliment on the informative nature of our articles.

Several years ago, we did try to evaluate each reprint request that came to us as to its use and any possible liabilities relating to the situation. However, we have found this follow-up investigation too prohibitive in both time and cost. Therefore, we have recently established a company policy not to allow any such reprints of articles from our company newsletter. I am sorry.

Perhaps we can help you in another way sometime. If so, please write again. Best wishes with your other research and the final manuscript.

Sincerely,

Example 3: Permission decline letters

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip
Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Mr. Winger:

We are pleased to hear about your new seminar, Managing People Effectively, and to learn of your interest in our annual Memphis Management Institute.

As you may be aware, our trainers have spent more than five years assembling the case studies and other handout materials they use in this management training program. Some of the research and ideas came from our in-house staff; other materials have been purchased from outside sources. Because it would be impossible to trace the sources of all such materials and because of the fear of granting permission to rights we ourselves do not own, we must decline permission for our course materials to be used outside our own organization.

If we can help you with one specific class exercise, please write us again, and we will see if we own the copyright to that specific material. If indeed your selection has been developed by one of our staff trainers and if you can be more specific about your plans and audience, we will be happy to grant limited use.

We are most flattered by your interest and comments on the quality of our management training. Our best wishes as you develop your own seminar sessions.

Sincerely,

Guidelines : Granting Permission

Granting Permission

Guidelines and Alternate Phrases

• Grant permission to quote or reprint for specific uses and for specific material.
• We are pleased to grant you the rights to use Dr. McDonald’s statistics as you have outlined in your May 6 letter. We understand this report will be for internal use in your organization and will not be published or distributed to any other organization.
• Yes, we can grant you the rights to reprint the article entitled…for your limited use in Hatden Inc.’s marketing guide.
• We have received your letter, and you have our permission to use the four paragraphs of Dr. Suzanne Howard’s speech originally delivered at the ATMD national conference, June 22.
• Indicate any special note or copyright line you want to appear with the material used.
• We ask all quoted material contain the following note:….
• Please include a notation stating that copyright belongs to us.
• Please use the following copyright note on all appearances of the material:….
• Ask to see the context of the material if the use gives you any concern.
• As you are probably aware, we would not want to endorse any service without being familiar with it. Therefore, we ask you send us a copy of your brochure text before we grant permission to quote.
• We would like to see the exact nature of the surrounding text before we grant permission to use the information you have outlined.
• We are concerned about the use of our materials for profit by any outside organization. Will there be any resale of this material?
• Mention the reprint fee that you require, if any.
• For the limited use you have outlined, we will waive the reprint fee.
• For the uses you have detailed in your letter, there will be a reprint fee of $75.
• There is, of course, no fee in reprinting our material. We are simply pleased you can use it to your benefit–as long as you credit us as your source.
• Refer the requester elsewhere if you do not control the rights to reprint.
• The rights you requested do not belong to us. We suggest you contact the editor of….
• We do not control the rights you requested. For reprint, we suggest you write to….

Example 1: Sample letters of granting permission

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip
Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Ms. Turner:

You have our permission to reprint the article “Watching Your Tongue” by Sarah Hartford from Comments from the Edge #34/89 as a handout for your listening skills workshops.

We require, however, you publish the following note prominently on the handout:

Reprinted by permission of Comments from the Edge, the Fuller Group employee magazine. © l994.

Please send us a “blueline” or the layout of your proposed handout because we are concerned with the design of your final handout package. If you can let us take a look at the context and final package, we would be happy to have you use the article in your workshop.

Thank you for writing us.

Sincerely,

Example 2: Granting premission letters

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Ms. Broski:

We grant you the rights to reprint Dr. William Hereford’s speech to the Boston Club on May 5, 1998. Please credit the speech to “Dr. William James Hereford,” and quote the speech in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Example 3: Granting permission for article

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Mr. Donaldson:

You may quote a portion of the fourth paragraph of my “Critic’s Corner” review, published in the Daily Gazette on February 22 for the dust jacket of Norman Teller’s book, Fit.. However, please send the dust jacket proofs to me for final approval. I would like to see the layout and exact quote you intend to use before you forward them to the publisher.

Please, credit the quoted material as follows: “Sandia Fuller, Daily Gazette.”

Sincerely,

Example 4: Permission letters

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Mrs. Sung:

We received your request to reprint Brenda Crotty’s poem, “Lamplighters” in your upcoming novel, Mrs. Sanders’ Daughters. Unfortunately, we are unable to grant permission to reprint Ms. Crotty’s materials.

Upon her death, the rights reverted to her son, Grant Crotty. Mr. Crotty can be reached c/o Ed Treborn, Esquire, 1183 Bel Vista Lane, Suite 200, New York, New York 10010.

Sincerely,

Example 5: Example permission letter

Company Name or Letterhead
Address
City, State Zip

Date

Addressee
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Mr. Piscina:

You have my permission to quote in World News the statistics from my June 11, 1997 article in Economy comparing the literacy rates of socialist and capitalist countries.

Because the statistics are being quoted for a “for-profit” publication, there will be a fee of $175.00. Please include a notation that the copyright belongs to me.

Thank you for your interest in my study.

Sincerely,