Books - copyright / permission issue....?

[illiades]

Hi,

i will try to summarise the issue.
I am in the process of launching an English language magazine in Moscow, Russia, aimed at English speaking expatriates and English speaking Russians.
There is a section i am developing which will include an excerpt from a classic novel. This excerpt will be, more or less, 500 words, in English, from a famous chapter (The Grand Inquisitor, The Impertinent Curiosity, etc). Following this there will be a brief synopsis / summary and a 'cliff notes' type explanation of difficult terms and expression.

So, what exactly is the issue? Well, basically, copyright and permission.

I have contacted Penguin books for information about permission rights but they say they will reply in 8 weeks. That's Kafkaesque.

I understand that books written more than 70 years ago are invariably out of copyright but i'm not so sure about this and there is no definitive source on the internet where i can clarify the matter. I mean to say there is no definitive source that i have managed to find.

Can anybody tell me anything about such things? Do you know anything about the permission to use classic books in a publication (older than 70 years)?

Thanks very much for reading and i hope somebody will be able to help.

[Whifflingpin]

IANAL but:
The rules vary from country to country, so whatever applies in Russia need not be the same as applies in England or USA.
I think that in England the "70 years" is 70 years after the death of the author.
Penguin, or other publisher, would have no copyright over C19th authors unless, for example you were using a facsimile of a more recent (within 20 years?) publication, or a translation that was still in copyright.

[ralfyman]

For Penguin, there is an FAQ here:

http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/aboutus/faq_2.html

and the permission form in PDF linked contains additional guidelines.