How do I find copyright owners and/or get permission?: What to Do

Finding the copyright owner can be challenging. Click the link below to search for a copyright owner.

Part of this article includes:

Information Needed
The more detailed information you can furnish with your request, the less expensive the search will be. Please provide as much of the following information as possible:
• the title of the work, with any possible variants
• the names of the authors, including possible pseudonyms
• the name of the probable copyright owner, which may be the publisher or producer
• the approximate year when the work was published or registered
• the type of work involved (book, play, musical composition, sound recording, photograph, etc.)
• for a work originally published as a part of a periodical or collection, the title of that publication and any other information, such as the volume or issue number, to help identify it
• the registration number or any other copyright data

Motion pictures are often based on other works such as books or serialized contributions to periodicals or other composite works. If you want a search for an underlying work or for music from a motion picture, you must specifically request such a search. You must also identify the underlying works and music and furnish the specific titles, authors, and approximate dates of these works.

 The CCC or Copyright Clearance Center is a great place to go when you are looking to see if the material you want to use is reproducable. If the work is not in their database, they will attempt to locate the copyright holder.

Here is their contact information. At the bottom there is a link to the website that has licensing and permission services, including pay-per-use info.