Newspapers around the world are deluged by requests for reprints or permission to reprint photographs and articles. It's no wonder when one considers the large market penetration of newspapers and their unique local coverage.

About 60 percent of adults in the United States read the daily paper. Local businesses and families depend on it for basic information about their communities. A large percentage of the stories and photographs in these papers do not appear anywhere else.

A request for a photograph might be for a high school football star who made a winning touchdown or a picture of the President making a goodwill visit. A desired article might be a large spread on a timely issue, or merely a recipe in the food section.

Use of a story reprint or photograph may be for an expensive advertising campaign or may be for a national news magazine, with circulation in the many thousands. On the other hand, the photo or article might merely be framed to hang in a reader's home.

Obviously, the rights and permission needs in these cases are quite different.

A single copy of a story may be obtained for free from a newspaper Web site or copied from the newspaper at the local library. A single photograph for personal use can be ordered from the newspaper quite inexpensively, usually for under $30.

As the requests get more complicated, the newspaper's "permissions editor" takes over.

Fees for reprint permissions range from $20, $100, $1000 and up. The circulation of the publication or the book run usually affects the fee. The high-end fees are levied on publications with the most copies. On the other hand, if the publication is non-profit, or has small circulation, a newspaper may give a discounted rate. The price for Newsweek magazine would be much higher than for, say, Bay Area Quilter.

Use of news stories and photographs for business or advertising purposes can be difficult to negotiate. Some papers will not allow the newspaper logo to be used; some insist on approval rights of the layout; some do not allow any editing of the piece; and some will not grant permission at all for this purpose.

A number of newspapers have contracted with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to represent their interests in academic photocopying, internal corporate use, and in collecting from international copyright organizations. This provides some revenue for the newspaper publisher that would be difficult to collect otherwise. The CCC service does not include reprinting for "outside use" and "individual" use.

A publication also has the choice of contracting out the whole process. There are companies that will deal with the individual and corporate requests, and may even provide special presentation copies of the photographs and articles.

Librarians and information professionals in many news operations often play an important part in this service. Some serve as "permissions editors" or supervise the in-house or contracted services. It can be a good fit for librarian who already might deal with text and photo database marketing, to also take on reprints and permissions. The royalties garnered may be a welcome edition to the library budget. Many newspaper librarians have gathered a myriad of money-making duties into a company "Information Store." Custom research services for the public are often part of this mix.

Newspaper newsrooms, or "editorial departments," don't make money directly--the money is made in the circulation and advertising departments. The only credits listed in the editorial budget could be in the library. As an executive editor once said, half in jest, "The library is only department around here that makes any money!" $