Hatrack River Writers Workshop: song lyrics

This is topic song lyrics in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by rjzeller (Member # 1906) on :

Okay, I think I already know the answer to this, but:

What is the rule regarding use of song lyrics in a story? In a book I've just completed, I have lyrics from a couple popular groups referenced in the text (which full credit to the musical groups, of course).

However, this still strikes me as a copyrite infringement. Is this correct? Is there some guidline on how many lines from a given song I could use or the context I would be able to use them in under fair use? Should I seek permission from the musicians (hard if I don't know how to contct them)?

Thoughts?

Posted by Nexus Capacitor (Member # 1694) on :

You have to get permission for any copyrighted song lyrics. The recording industry is insanely protective.

Of course, any musician can make a song based on your book without fear. (You shouldn't be upset about this either. It's free promotion.)

Posted by Nexus Capacitor (Member # 1694) on :

Oh yeah. Just contact the record company listed on the CD case. If they don't own the copyright, they will know who does.

Posted by reid (Member # 1425) on :

Neil Gaiman has a few entries about this process in his American Gods blog. Start here...

http://www.neilgaiman.com/archive/2001_02_01_archive.asp

Regards,

Brian

Posted by lindsay (Member # 1741) on :

A friend of mine ran into this trouble a while back with one of her published books. She wanted to use J. Joplin lyrics-the Bobby Magee song. Specifically, she wanted to start chapters with bits of the lyrics. However, this resulted in a huge back-and-forth flurry of communications. End result was, she couldn't use the words at the beginnings of chapters without paying for the usage.

In the end, she opted to use what she wanted in quotes; i.e., dialogue. So there's an option for you. Use the references as part of dialogue.

The main character of the story had lost everything in his life, hence the author wanting to use, in some way, the whole idea of "freedom being just another word for nothing left to lose."

The book got published, the words (and their very critical meaning in terms of story line) got into the book.

And the hero in the book? He named his boat (which played a huge role in the story) "The Bobby Magee."

Just a thought...

Posted by rjzeller (Member # 1906) on :

That last post is an intriguing thought. I'd have a hard time with it, though. You see, the premise is the main character hears this song and it awakens some long lost memories in him.

Music and smell are very powerful to teh senses and have a tendency to stir up old memories, so I was going to use a U2 song as a tool to do this - the lyrics fit the storyline very well. I suppose I could just make up a group and a song, but this one just seemed for viable since it was a real song.

I don't mind paying a fee...to a point. I guess I'll be giving Island records a call and seeing what they have to say. Thanks all.