Following on from the previous entries where I emailed Henry Rollins’ management about the use of some of his text and image in my autofictographic novel, and the one where I was a little bummed after he wrote back and said no, I had a chat today with the Information Policy Officer at Griffith about the issue of copyright. I’ve scaled back what I would like to use now, one of his quotes, which you can find everywhere online.
Screenshot of a Google image search of the quote in question
“Keep your blood clean, your body lean, and your mind sharp.”
I believe, if memory serves correctly, the first time I read this was in HR’s book Get in the Van (Rollins 1994). That book, and Henry’s philosophies, changed my fucking life. Copyright law says I should be able to use this quote due to its length and availability, at least within a self-publishing context. But I really want to respect HR’s wishes and would ideally like his blessings on this project. He was a positive influence on me a decade ago, and I’m sure I’m not the only one he’s helped by his example. Spreading messages of clean living, of working hard, of independence, of fortitude and strength. Simple stuff, guidelines to live by.
Also, I was directed to this cool search tool for finding content that is free to use.
Its https://search.creativecommons.org
