Is it okay to use short excerpts (under 200 words) from psychology, history, philosophy books, etc. to create reading comprehension questions for my test prep book? I'd focus on main ideas, making inferences, and identifying transition words. Can I use quotes from recent books, or would that cause copyright problems?
1 Answer
While copyright law varies around the world, in most places you can do this as there is a standard permission in copyright law for such things ('teaching exception') most places.
But if your country doesn't completely subscribe to the Berne Convention then you may need local guidance. Note also that not every place accepts the exception as it is "permitted" not required within the rules.
Addendum: I didn't mention plagiarism as it is unlikely that anyone would assume you were presenting your own creative thoughts in the snippets. I've also assumed that you aren't going to publish the exam.
You could, however, put in a footnote indicating you will provide sources on request. And if you publish the exam you should add citations as you would in any publication.
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2OP doesn't refer to teaching. OP states purpose as "to create reading comprehension questions for my test prep book." Is this book for commercial purposes? If yes, I think there is indeed a copyright question here.– EggyCommented Jul 7 at 17:16
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@Eggy, “test prep book” probably does imply a teaching context. But yes, publishing would raise issues of copyright.– BuffyCommented Jul 7 at 17:30
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There are plenty of test prep books being sold in bookstores. Amazon brings up over 20,000 results for the search term "test prep books."– EggyCommented Jul 7 at 18:13
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2OP should state the purpose of the test prep books so the question can be answered properly.– EggyCommented Jul 7 at 18:59