You’re publishing a piece and decide that a text (poem, song lyrics, book quotes longer than 500 words) or visual someone else created would help illustrate your point. You don’t want to include the other party’s work without written permission from that party because (1) you could be sued if she finds out and (2) you’re an honest person who wants to make sure all responsible parties get proper credit. What can you do track down the rights holder?

1. If the material you want is reprinted in a book, look for the copyright holder on the book’s copyright page. This page usually appears after the title page. Many will list the rights holder at the top after the copyright symbol, ©. Usually, the rights holder’s contact information (or her publisher’s contact information) is on the page.
2. Visit Copyright Clearance Center (http://www.copyright.com/). At the bottom of its home screen there’s a heading “Get Permissions.” Select “Permissions Search” under that heading and you’ll be taken to a page where you can search for a resource by its title, ISBN, or ISSN. Once you’ve located the work, you can follow the CCC’s directions to request permission to use it.
3. Do an online search for the name of the work’s creator. If the rights holder is working in the public sector (university professor or state superintendent); you should be able to access a mailing address, email address, or phone number. I’ve also found the White Pages (http://www.whitepages.com) helpful, but I would caution you that it should be a last approach. You could easily locate the wrong John Smith or piss the rights holder off by infringing on his home life.

Happy hunting!