Reusing figures, photos, and other data and text from other publications requires permission from the copyright holder—even if they have been altered. This protects both the authors and the AER from litigation. In most cases, the copyright holder will grant permission. If the author of the publication from which you are taking the illustration gives credit to another author, you must request permission from both publishers.
You do not need permission for the following:
As an author, you are responsible for obtaining copyright permission. You should send the permission request as soon as you decide to include the illustration because the process may take months.
Do not assume that copyright permission has already been given by the people whose faces appear in your photos, including staff members. Check with Design.Services@aer.ca to find out if staff members (past and present) have given permission. For the most up-to-date versions of the various model release forms, and for more information on what is required, please contact Design.Services@aer.ca.
Copyright belongs to the person who took the photo unless it is expressly written in a contract with the AER.
In most cases, the copyright holder is the publisher of the work (e.g., book, journal, or company), not the author.
Publishers should have a section on their website explaining how and from whom to request copyright permission. Some journals grant blanket permission to reproduce illustrations as long as you acknowledge the source. If you cannot find the direct email address for the copyright permission officer, send your email to the general enquiry address (e.g., info@…).
Publishers will have different conditions for granting copyright permission. You must follow them exactly.
Send a permission request to the copyright holder, along with images of the original figure and the altered version you wish to publish. You can use the following wording to request copyright permission for an AER report. Be sure to copy Design.Services@aer.ca on all correspondence, electronic or otherwise, regarding permission requests!
To [name of copyright officer or “Sir or Madam”]:
I am writing a report for the Alberta Energy Regulator about [subject of publication]. The publication release date is [month and year]. The report will be distributed for free. I ask your permission to include the following material from your [title and bibliographic details of source publication]:
• [itemized list of illustrations]
I wish to revise the material in the following manner:
• [itemized list of revisions]
Please advise how we should credit the material. This permission does not restrict republication of your material by you or others authorized by you.
If you cannot provide permission, please let me know whom I should contact.
Thank you,
[Name and address of author]
If you cannot find the publisher, or if no one responds to your correspondence, you may not use the material in question and must instead simply point the reader to where the material can be found. Unfortunately, the Copyright Act does not make allowances for an inability to reach a copyright holder. Using copyrighted material without proper permissions exposes the AER to liability.