I very rarely have to quote people in the kind of writing I do at work. But I have a new project, freelance, where I will need to quote people from other reports, and interviews. Does anyone know, whether if I state where I get the quote from, I have to get permission from the author of the quote? (It's not a money-making project - it's a 'good cause' kind of thing.

As far as I know - and I am not a lawyer etc. etc. - if you have evidence of the q

<Added>

... oops! - an original record of the quote being made to you ie a letter, email, phone call, taped interview etc then you can use it whether or not you have the approval of the source. (Of course, whether you want to publish in these circumstances is another matter.)

But if you are quoting from some other source such as an interview given directly to a national newspaper, I don't know the rules and would advise you stick to small fragments - you can't reprint large parts of someone else's efforts. But I would think quotes made in the public domain (such as at conferences and so on) are copyright free ?