Just a quick question for you guys, while I ponder the layout of my latest page and decide if what I'm doing is a cop out...

How acceptable do you think it is to quote the works of other writers in your work? It's reasonably common in literature - the quote usually existing as a short snippet at the beginning of a story, or at the end. For example, at the beginning of Neil Gaiman's Reading the Entrails: A Rondel; 'I mean,' she said, 'that one can't help growing older.' 'One can't perhaps,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'but two can. With proper assistance, you might have left off at seven.' - Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking-Glass, a popular guy to quote.

Does anyone know the legalities of such quotes in actual literature? Are artists required to pay to use a snippet, or is it like song lyrics (and clips); if you only use below a certain amount, it's free?

And beyond the legalities of such a thing, what do you think of doing this as an artist technique? Do you agree with it, morally? Do you find it can add interesting insight to a piece of work, or do you find it unbearably annoying? (As I often do, particularly when people quote vast swathes of song lyrics at me... which doesn't stop me from occasionally doing it myself when so inclined).

Interested to hear your thoughts. The comic I'm writing at the moment was partially inspired by a wonderful poem I found, and I'm uncertain how much of it to quote, where in the comic to do it, and if I should do it at all...

Well, I have seen people quoted in big published manga too, like Gunnm and even Sailor Moon. I seriously doubt they had to pay to do so...but don't quote me on that I guess. Usually credit is given, so I don't understand how it could be bad...

I sure hope it's okay, because I'm thinking about doing it. =P

LOL, I do it as much as I can. I consider it a fun exercise. Just look at my sig banner. Of course, my comic being what it is, I could care less about the legalities.

If you're really worried about it, leave a footnote listing the source work.

Well, if you're worried about plagrism, just cite your quotes. If you do decide to publish your work, it'd be wise to check as a precaution. Very few people will outright sue someone over them using the original author's words.

Thanks for your input, guys. :D I'm not vastly worried about the legalities, it just crossed my mind (and I was interested to see if anyone knew the actual logistics of it), mainly for future reference. I doubt October will ever be published, but if I decided to do a small run of them for a comic con or something, I'd like to know where I stand (just in case). It's better to know! ;P

I'm still tempted to sling that quote in. My major issue at the moment is that that poem is only four stanzas long, and all of it's gold. It's so well-written that one stanza can't exist without the other three, it ruins the structure. But I really can't quote the entire sodding thing, that just seems... wrong. Surely that's stealing? :P (And I wouldn't care if this was some old dead poet, but it's a guy who's still kicking as far as I'm aware).

Anyway. I've not decided. I might just provide a link to the poem in my notes or list it as inspiration elsewhere, and let people find it and read it for themselves. At the moment, I'm thinking mainly of whether or not this is a cop-out... I should probably make additional panels instead, but I don't want to kill my sexy negative space. :P

Oh, decisions, decisions.

How about this - using song lyrics in a comic. Same diff. or is that a much more sensitive matter?

SarahN
How about this - using song lyrics in a comic. Same diff. or is that a much more sensitive matter?

I think I asked that question before and everyone else said its ok... and just mention the author of the song lyrics.

I make random references all the time in my comic, but I make sure to give credit where credit is due.