may I refer to exisiting books in my course?

In my course I would refer to well known books on the topics I want to teach: is this possible, obviously providing the quotation of the author and the book title?

It is not necessary for students to buy the books since I will completely explain the topics from scratch.

Many thanks!

Comments

  • FrankKane
    FrankKane Posts: 1,916 rolemodel rank

    You mean you want to quote lines from these books within your course? I think legally, the answer is no (although lots of people do it anyway):

    http://writersrelief.com/2014/01/31/get-permission-to-use-quotes-in-writing/

    It's copyrighted work and can't be used without permission.

    That said, I think most authors would gladly grant permission to just quote a line or two, with attribution. It's free advertising for them. A quick email to the author is worth the peace of mind, and might even start a new connection to the author you never thought was possible.

    If you just want to mention the book and not quote from it, sure, that should be fine.