Using lyrics in Fiction

[Usman Ijaz]

do you have to buy the rights to use song lyrics, or does it depend on how many lines you use, or something?

[Mya Bell]

If it is commercial fiction and if the copyright on the lyrics is still current, I believe you have to obtain permission and, if the copyright holder desires, pay an agreed-upon fee.

--- Mya Bell

[Robert Raven]

Musical lyric copyright holders are notoriously jealous of their rights, so, like Steve Irwin says about approaching crocodiles while holding your infant son in front of you, "Ooooh, we gotta be careful!"

An instructive true story: Avant-garde composer John Cage "recorded" several minutes of silence on a record, with a title (I forget what it was), and released it commercially. Recently a band, intending to honor him, "recorded" a shorter segment of silence on a CD, and titled it in some manner clearly connecting it with Cage.

Cage's estate, him being dead and all, who hold the copyrights to his work, sued the band for copyright infringement. They won, and were awarded a proportion of what they asked for, determined by the ratio of the length of the band's shorter version of silence relative to Cage's original.

I did not make this up.

Now . . . what I wonder, Cage being dead and all, couldn't he continue to compose similar music, anyway?

RR

[Jan Helman]

What if you only use, say, seven or four words out of a song? I have two such instances in my WIP. In the first instance, seven words appear in a section of dialogue in a way that blends naturally into what the character is saying. I never mention the song in question. In the second, I mention that a character recalls an old song from his youth and include four consecutive words from the chorus.

Is this okay, or should I think about rewriting this stuff?

[leslee]

My opinion: Your publisher will deal with that issue if you're fortunate enough to get that far. You may have to rewrite, but don't do it until then. Write the book the way you want it, but with the understanding that it may have to change if permissions are not obtained.

I have several references to song lyrics in my ms, but I'm fine about changing them if need be.

[Mya Bell]

Copyright issues can hold up book releases for weeks or months. I'd be concerned about the publisher not wanting to deal with it if my book is in competition with several others for selection and has unresolved copyright issues.

It took months for me to get permission to use a VERY simple line drawing in one of my books. It was a drawing I could have redrawn in less than ten minutes but, at the time, it SEEMED simpler just to get permission. I was wrong.

Just some things to think about. It can be a real headache to deal with copyright sometimes.

--- Mya Bell

[Carrie Kabak]

Yes, the author must buy lyrics, but you may use titles for free, and you may paraphrase.

[Carrie Kabak]

Leslee...the author pays for lyrics, not the publisher.

[Debbi Voisey]

Jan..

You make a good point. You can't copyright an actual phrase which is used in everyday speech. That would be impossible. But also, by the same token, be careful of being a "smart arse" and thinking you can disguise something like that if what you really want to do is actually make a reader know you are referring to a song.

A phrase can't be copyrighted, but the concept of a specific song can, and if it is blatantly obvious you are referring to it (however cleverly "disguised"), then just be a little careful.

Debbi

[leslee]

Carrie, I didn't say the publisher pays. I said don't sweat the issue until you have to.