user11544: I am writing a romance book. In it one of my character's recites a portion of the Dhammapada. If I publish my book, will I be violating any copyright laws? How would I go about getting permission to put the quote in my book?

user8157: This is a contentious issue in Buddhism because the Buddha taught the Dhamma is to be given freely & because the translators are only translating rather than creating anything original. To quote:

This is the best of gifts: the gift of Dhamma.
AN 9.5

An example of 'Buddhist' copyright clauses are here: Buddhanet Copyright Details and here (bottom of page): Piyavagga: Affection.
A discussion is here: Copyright on the Dhamma and here: Dharma should be free?
The easy solution is to simply change of few words and claim it as your own translation. 
If the Buddha was alive, he would say: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn". 



user295: Buddhist scriptures are so old they are not under copyright. Translations maybe. Some are made freely available. Best is just ask the author or do your own translation. Also quoting a small portion may be acceptable as fair use.

11544: <p>I am writing a romance book. In it one of my character's recites a portion of the Dhammapada. If I publish my book, will I be violating any copyright laws? How would I go about getting permission to put the quote in my book?</p>
 8157: <p>This is a contentious issue in Buddhism because the Buddha taught the Dhamma is to be given freely &amp; because the translators are only translating rather than creating anything original. To quote:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>This is the best of gifts: the gift of Dhamma.</em></p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/wheel238.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>AN 9.5</em></a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>An example of 'Buddhist' copyright clauses are here: <a href="http://www.buddhanet.net/copyright.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Buddhanet Copyright Details</a> and here (bottom of page): <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.16.budd.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Piyavagga: Affection</a>.</p>

<p>A discussion is here: <a href="https://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&amp;t=12705&amp;sid=4b315c062f82a9c845c513e02dc70135&amp;start=20" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Copyright on the Dhamma</a> and here: <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/17952/dharma-should-be-free">Dharma should be free?</a></p>

<p>The easy solution is to simply change of few words and claim it as your own translation. </p>

<p>If the Buddha was alive, he would say: "<em>Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn</em>". </p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/hcUiV.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/hcUiV.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/uVQES.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/uVQES.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
 295: <p>Buddhist scriptures are so old they are not under copyright. Translations maybe. Some are made freely available. Best is just ask the author or do your own translation. Also quoting a small portion may be acceptable as fair use.</p>
