How does Sparknotes or Cliffsnotes summarize books? Isn't that breaking copyright?

Question

So, could I summarize books if I wanted to? As long as I stated that the ideas were someone else's and cited?

I need sources here or evidence. I don't want to risk copyright infringement or legal problems.

Answer 1

In most of those cases, either the books are old enough to be in the public domain (thus, not under copyright) or the summaries are under license from the publishers.

And yes, you can summarize books -- under the fair use provisions. That's how newpapers and columnists do book reviews.

But it's a matter of how much of that information from the book you use -- in the case of book reviews, its to get people to buy the original book. For summaries, it would usually be a replacement (people using the summary instead of the book) which is what copyright laws are intended to prevent.

Answer 2

The company that summarizes books gets the rights to do so from the publishing company of that book or the author and they probably have to pay royalties to those people who gave them the rights

Answer 3

You'd be walking a tightrope on the fair use exception to the copyright laws. And that's a tightrope with severe consequences if you fall off.

You should consult an attorney in your area as to your specific proposed use, and have them review your proposed summary prior to publication.