Permissions and Citations

Would you like to use MARBL materials in a

  • publication (book, article, newspaper, etc.)
  • web site
  • film or television show
  • exhibition
  • performance
  • or presentation?

If so, you will need to request permission from

  • MARBL
  • the copyright holder (if the work is still under copyright)

When you use the materials, you must make sure to use a proper citation.

Please contact the Research Services staff with any questions about the permissions and citations.

Copyright


First determine whether the materials are still under copyright. If they are, you will need to contact the copyright holder to request permission to use them. Please note that MARBL holds the copyright for only a small percentage of the copyrighted materials it owns. It is the researcher’s responsibility to determine the copyright status of the materials they wish to use.

Websites with general information on copyright include:

Cornell University maintains a helpful chart that indicates when published and unpublished works will pass into the public domain:

If the materials are still under copyright, you should determine whether the way you plan to use them might fall under the Fair Use Provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. The following websites may be helpful to you.

If the materials are under copyright and the use you plan does not fall under Fair Use, you will need to seek permission from the copyright holder. If the materials are literary or artistic, you may be able to find contact information for the copyright holder in the Writers, Artists and their Rights Holders database.

Permission from MARBL


In addition to seeking permission from the copyright holder, if any, you will need to request a non-exclusive license from MARBL. The Library may charge a fee for this license if in the Library’s judgment the way you wish to use the materials is commercial in nature. The license fee is listed on the license request form. All checks should be made out to Emory University.

To request a non-exclusive license to use materials owned by MARBL, please complete an Application for Permission to Publish, Quote, Broadcast, Perform, or Exhibit. (PDF)

Send the form and payment (if required) by fax or mail to:

Coordinator for Research Services
MARBL/Woodruff Library
540 Asbury Circle
Atlanta, GA 30322-2870

404-727-0360 (FAX)

Citations


Please use the following format when citing materials from MARBL’s manuscript collections:

[description of item], [name of collection], Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

For example:

Letter from John Cennick to Howell Harris, July 28, 1742, John Wesley papers, Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

African-American Males in California, Opportunity or Chaos: A Generation in Peril, preliminary report on the status of African-American males in California, 1992, Louise Thompson Patterson papers, Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Peter Fallon, typescript draft of "You Came to Me Like Sunlight Warming," Peter Fallon/The Gallery Press collection, Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Photographs of students at Atlanta University, Cleopatra Love scrapbook, African American Miscellany collection, Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Photograph of Kathleen Gonne, Hastings, [circa 1874-1875], Maud Gonne collection, Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.