Copyright Clearance Center
The CCC manages copyright permission for most contemporary and recent textual works published in the United States.
Here is a video tutorial on how to use the CCC's Pay Per Use service to search for a work in the Copyright Clearance Center and get permission to use it.
In some cases, the CCC offers a form to fill out, and you can get permission and pay royalties online. In other cases, the CCC just gives you the copyright owner's contact information. Then you need to contact them directly. More information about that in the boxes below.
Whom to contact if it's not in the CCC database
For a book that's in print... contact the publisher
For a book that's out of print... contact the author or their estate
For an article... contact the journal or magazine
Requesting permission and negotiating the license
We recommend contacting by email or phone first to confirm that they are the right person to ask, and to determine whether they wish to proceed by email or land mail.
If you are using land mail, be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and send it all by Certified Mail so that you can be sure that it arrived.
- Permission Letter TemplateIf you have to contact the copyright owner directly, here is a permission letter template that you can copy and alter to suit your purposes.
