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From: Amanda Credaro
Sent: Thursday, 5 August 2004 10:17 PM
To: rights@penguin.com.au
Subject: WLW: Permission to quote from "The Dirt Bath"?
I would like to quote from pages 42-43 in Paul Livingston's "The Dirt Bath",
as part of a Warrior Librarian Weekly (WLW) feature on librarians in
fiction. WLW is an internationally acclaimed online journal for library
professionals. Although the main perspective is satirical commentary, the
books mentioned in the journal obtain wide exposure overseas.
I would be most grateful for your prompt attention, as I would like to
include the quotation in next week's edition of WLW.
Yours sincerely,
Editor: Warrior Librarian Weekly
www.warriorlibrarian.com
From: Crocombe, Angela [mailto:Angela.Crocombe@au.penguingroup.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 9:38 AM
To: abcredaro@ozemail.com.au
Subject: FW: Permission to quote from "The Dirt Bath"?
Hello,
It usually takes at least 3 weeks to clear permission. Please provide the
exact quote you wish to use (or words beginning and ending), word count,
print run of your journal, distribution territory, and retail price that it
sells for. I will try to clear it as soon as possible, but there are no
guarantees.
Best wishes,
Angela Crocombe
Rights Administrator - Adult books
Penguin Group (Australia)
(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
250 Camberwell Rd
CAMBERWELL VIC 3124
Ph. +61 3 9811 2586
Fax. +61 3 9811 2621
Angela.Crocombe@au.penguingroup.com
From: Amanda Credaro
Sent: Wednesday, 11 August 2004 6:58 PM
To: Crocombe, Angela
Subject: RE: Permission to quote from "The Dirt Bath"?
Hello Angela.
To answer your queries:
Quote: From page 42-43 "...To Henry's mind, the library did not look
promising at first glance. There was only one person, sitting at a large
single table ... [Henry looking over man's shoulder] - 'The Hollow Men'.
Excellent said Henry ...
The man remained unmoved. Yellow, knotted hair fell over the book, dropping
grit and flaked skin onto the page. He wore a soiled brown suit, and a
collection of no less than five plastic bags surrounded his feet, stuffed
with an eclectic selection from [Sydney suburb's name] finest bins.
- "This is the way the world ends, not with a band but a whimper", quoted
Henry, still fishing for a response. He got one ...
...The ruckus interrupted a phone conversation in which librarian Suzie
Bannister was engaged. She walked towards the pair, shaking her head.
Scooping up the plastic bags, she headed for the door.
"Come on Rudyard, back to your cage" she said. Suzie threw the bags onto the
footpath, sending the man scrambling to retrieve his possessions ...
"Kipling?" asked Henry as she passed. "Today' he's Kipling", she said
offhandedly. "Yesterday he was Sylvia Plath" ...
Word Count: 186
Print Run: Warrior Librarian Weekly is an online journal, ISSN 1445-9124.
There is no "print run". It may be of interest to note that WLW is regularly
archived by the National Library of Australia as part of their Pandora
Project on the basis that it is considered to be culturally significant.
Distribution: Global. For a selection of organizations (including the
United Nations library, and over 50 academic institutions) that link to WLW
see: http://www.warriorlibrarian.com/IMHO/return.html
Audience: Librarians
Price: Free
Rationale for requesting permission to quote: WLW usually does not quote
from any print material unless a review copy has been supplied. However, as
"Dirt Bath" is considered to be of high interest to the librarian
profession, an exception has been made in this case. Incidentally, WLW does
not accept paid advertising.
Looking forward to your reply,
Amanda Credaro
Editor: Warrior Librarian Weekly
http://www.warriorlibrarian.com
From: Crocombe, Angela [mailto:Angela.Crocombe@au.penguingroup.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 1:35 PM
To: Amanda Credaro
Subject: RE: Permission to quote from "The Dirt Bath"?
Dear Amanda,
Thanks for this. Attached is a quote for you. If you would like to proceed,
please sign it and return it back to me.
Best wishes,
Angela
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ATTACHMENT
Amanda Credaro
Editor
Warrior Librarian Weekly
15 January 2005
QUOTE ONLY FOR NON-EXCLUSIVE LICENCE: REF NO: PER 677
Re: THE DIRT BATH by Paul Livingston
We are pleased to quote for the granting of permission to use at least 186 words from the above title in your online journal, ‘Warrior Librarian Weekly’. This quote is valid for 30 days from the date of this letter.
On acceptance of this quote and payment of our tax invoice the permission will be granted on a non-exclusive basis on condition that you pay a fee of A$50, for distribution online throughout the world for a term of no more than two years from the above date.
Please countersign the copy of this letter and return it to me as confirmation of your acceptance of this quote. Upon receipt of your acceptance a tax invoice will be issued which shall be due and payable upon publication.
The quoted fee is for a specific print run and price. Should that alter at any time we would need to be advised immediately as some recalculation of the fee may be necessary – at which stage a further invoice shall be issued. Should you wish to use the material again we would require that you renegotiate the fee prior to a second printing or use of the material.
We require that suitable acknowledgement be made to the title of our book, the author and to Penguin Group Australia Ltd as publisher.
An invoice will be issued upon acceptance of this quotation following which time no cancellation of invoice or refund of fees will be possible.
Yours sincerely,
Angela Crocombe
Rights Co-ordinator, Adult Books
for and on behalf of Penguin Australia
direct tel: 61 3 9811 2586
fax: 61 3 9811 2621
email: angela.crocombe@penguin.com.au
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From: Amanda Credaro
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 6:27 PM
To: Crocombe, Angela
Cc: asa@asauthors.org
Subject: RE: Permission to quote from "The Dirt Bath"?
Attention: Angela Crocombe,
Rights Administrator - Adult books
Penguin Group (Australia)
CC: Australian Society of Authors
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but the attached document seems to indicate
that you are asking me to PAY you to provide publicity for your author’s
book, by quoting a few paragraphs to highlight the writing style, content,
and wit of the author. Is the author of “the Dirt Bath” aware of your
policy of charging for publicity?
As I previously mentioned, Warrior Librarian Weekly does not accept
advertising. Heck, we don’t even review every book we receive – if we find
it is not of interest to the international library community, it doesn’t get
any free publicity from us.
Warrior Librarian Weekly – based in Sydney - has an editorial policy of
promoting Australian literature to the international market. I am astounded
that Penguin Australia does not value this commitment to Australian authors.
In the past, Warrior Librarian Weekly has interviewed authors such as Anna
Maria Dell’oso and Clio Cresswell. Both of those two authors found the
journal’s satirical approach to serious issues a refreshing change from the
more traditional paradigms, and appreciated the fact that the publicity
would reach a significant, although different, audience. Presumably,
international sales of their works didn’t suffer from the exposure.
In the interests of all Australian authors, I will contact the Australian
Society of Authors, and elicit some information as to whether or not this is
a new trend (charging for publicity) – or if it applies only to Penguin
Australia.
Yours sincerely,
Amanda Credaro
Editor: Warrior Librarian Weekly
From: Crocombe, Angela
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 10:19 AM
To: Amanda Credaro
Cc: asa@asauthors.org
Subject: RE: Permission to quote from "The Dirt Bath"?
Dear Amanda,
Thank you for your response.
Please let me explain my position. You came to me in the context of a
permissions request, not free publicity for this book. I did consider
carefully whether to charge you or not, and went to the website to take a
look at your journal, however we are naturally wary of on-line products as
the distribution is hard to monitor, and so I decided to put some
restrictions on the usage. As the book is now out of print in Australia and
has been since 2001, the publicity angle was not one of great concern.
Unfortunately, any free publicity you may generate for the book is not going
to result in extra sales as there are no copies to sell.
As you know, my role in this situation is to clear usage of quotations from
our books and as such, I closely adhere to the regulations of the ASA in
obtaining maximum income for our authors. I am always looking to do the best
for our authors, and this is certainly the case here.
However, since you obviously feel so strongly about this issue, I am
prepared to reconsider. If you can assure me that this information will stay
no longer than 2 years online and you will give full credit to the author,
title and Penguin Group Australia as publisher, I would be happy to allow
you to use this quotation for free.
Best wishes,
Angela Crocombe
Rights Dept
Penguin Group Australia
Attention: Angela Crocombe
Rights Dept
Penguin Group Australia
CC: Australian Society of Authors
Dear Angela,
Apologies for any confusion. My original email to you stated “I would like
to quote from pages 42-43 in Paul Livingston's "The Dirt Bath", as part of a
Warrior Librarian Weekly (WLW) feature on librarians in fiction”, and I
assumed you would equate the exposure to publicity.
Interestingly, as the book is out of print, the quote maybe very well have
been available under “fair use” provisions anyway. The material was clearly
less than 10% of the total; the material was not being sold or used for any
financial gain; and the main use of the material would have been for
information and study purposes. Over 50 academic institutions link to
Warrior Librarian Weekly, with a number of the articles being required
reading for various institutions delivering instruction to future
librarians.
As you say, Penguin would not have made any financial gain through further
sales as the book was out of print. I’m sure that the author would be most
pleased to hear that you are guided by the ASA regulations; publicity
(and/or exposure) of “The Dirt Bath” would promote the author’s current and
future works despite this particular work being unavailable. Incidentally,
as a matter of both personal and professional interest, what percentage of
the $50 originally requested (for permission to quote from the book) would
have gone to the author?
However, I would like to thank you for the reconsideration of the matter of
payment. Unfortunately I am unable “to assure [you] that the information
will stay no longer than two years online” as Warrior Librarian is
indefinitely archived on its own website. In addition, (as previously
mentioned) the journal is also archived by the National Library of Australia
as part of its Pandora Project, preserving Internet documents of cultural
significance for future generations. Paul Livingston’s name may now well
have been immortalized in the digital informationscape.
Which raises a whole other issue as far as publicity for Penguin Publishing
and its authors are concerned. Whilst the traditional mainstream press and other
professional print journals may carry reviews (which =
publicity/exposure/etc) and exist for a relatively short period of time, the
potential immortality that may be bestowed by Warrior Librarian Weekly
appears to have not been recognized by your organisation. Despite extensive
searches of our records, we note that Penguin Australia (and its
subsidiaries) have never forwarded material to us for review. This may be
one avenue that Penguin Australia may wish to explore more deeply in the
future.
Kind regards,
Amanda Credaro
Editor: Warrior Librarian Weekly
http://www.warriorlibrarian.com
Via the Warrior Librarian Update Subscription Newsletter:
Dear Warrior Librarian Update Subscriber,
For those who may have been a little concerned regarding the Penguin
Australia Publishing bun-fight with the WLW Corporate Division, please
be assured that the situation has now been settled semi-amicably. Which
means that there were no men in suits with briefcases involved. The
current edition of Warrior Librarian Weekly has been slightly amended to
reflect the latest developments. Another win for Warrior Librarianship!
Amanda Credaro
[aka Biblia, the Warrior Librarian]
email: abcredaro@ozemail.com.au
POSTSCRIPT: The Australian Society of Authors did not correspond with WLW at any stage; no money was ever paid by WLW to Penguin; Penguin (Australia, or anywhere else) has never sent WLW any of its publications for review; there was no forthcoming information as to what percentage of the proposed fee would have gone to the author of "Dirt Bath"; and the quotation - for which permission to publish was originally requested - was never published. Except for here, above. In the context of archival correspondence ....
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