So one of my short stories provides a fragment of the children's rhyme:
"For the want of a nail, the horseshoe was lost; For the want of a horseshoe, the horse was lost; For the want of a horse, the knight was lost.... For the want of the war, the kingdom was lost."
For something like that which - so far as I'm aware - is folklore and has no particular author, do I need to worry about copyrights? I certainly don't want to use anyone else's work inappropriately.
I also vaguely recall something about the length of a quote; if it's over so many lines, you don't need permission. Or is that just my imagination?
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
That one is probably in the public domain (copyrights, if any, have expired).
I did a search and it goes back to the 1600s at least, so you're safe.
Posted by BoredCrow (Member # 5675) on :
Thanks!!
The rhyme is kind of central to my story, so it's a relief that I can use it.
Posted by HuntGod (Member # 2259) on :
It is public domain, but it was used about 4 years ago by DC Comics to do a very good Superman story, where rather than being found by the Kents, young Kal El was found by an Amish community. The Kents car had been delayed by a nail in the tire. The story, called, The Nail, was very good. Not sure if DC purchased rights to the poem or not, but you might wanna check, DC diligently protects there properties and if they have the rights to the poem they will cause problems.
EDITED
NM, not sure how I missed Kat's post, but it is obviously public domain. The DC comic is worth checking out though :-)
[This message has been edited by HuntGod (edited July 07, 2007).]
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Ben Franklin included a version in one of his Poor Richard's Almanacs...so I would assume that version, if no other, is in public domain.
Posted by Rick Norwood (Member # 5604) on :
Once something goes into the public domain, it stays. Rule of thumb, anything before 1900 is ok, most before 1963 is ok unless the copyright was renewed, anything recent is life of the author plus 75 years. And anything Disney is NOT ok and never will be, because they have better lawyers than you do.
