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7. The general rule for Official Records, United Nations documents and public information material is that these
publications will be in the public domain. However, in exceptional circumstances, author departments may apply to the
Publications Board to obtain copyright protection for such materials. Such application shall set out reasons for the
request and shall demonstrate how such copyrighting is consistent with the legislative mandate of the publication.
B. Reproduction or translation of copyrighted materials
8. All requests by commercial publishers, societies or private individuals for permission to reproduce or translate extracts from copyrighted publications shall be referred to the Secretary of the Publications Board. After consultation with the author department, the Board will normally give permission to quote extracts, provided that proper acknowledgement of the source and copyright notice is given. Where reproduction or translation of the whole copyrighted publication or a substantial part thereof is sought, the matter should initially be referred to the External Publications Officer for a recommendation on the level of royalties, if any, to be paid to the United Nations. The matter must then be referred to the Publications Board, which may approve the request, provided that copyright of the translated work is obtained in the name of the United Nations. The Board may also grant the publisher exclusive rights to publish and sell the work in specified geographic areas for a specific period of time. In cases where public authorities, societies and commercial publishers contemplate separate editions of United Nations publications in languages in which the United Nations has issued or is preparing to issue the publication in question, the authorities concerned should be invited to consider the alternative of bulk purchase from the United Nations at special rates.
9. No offprint of a copyrighted publication, in whole or in part, shall be issued by the United Nations without the copyright imprint, for that might result in loss of the copyright in the material thus reproduced.
C. Reproduction or translation of non-copyrighted material
10. Extracts from publications which are not copyrighted may be freely quoted without prior permission from the United Nations. Authors and publishers, however, often seek such permission as a matter of courtesy, and requests of this nature should be referred to the Secretary of the Publications Board, who will check with the author department before conveying permission, and ask that due acknowledgement be made to the source of the quotation. Although non-copyrighted works may be freely reproduced, publishers often request authorization to publish or translate such works in their entirety. The Publications Board may agree to such requests and may agree to obtain copyright of the publication or have copyright obtained in the name of the United Nations to prevent unauthorized copying of the translated work, should it be in the interests of the United Nations to do so. The Board may also grant the publisher exclusive rights to publish and sell this translation in defined geographic areas for a specified period of time.
