Native American Heritage Month

Thinking About Adding Some Song Lyrics To Your Novel? Think Again.

Okay, gotta admit that I almost made this mistake.  In fact, I DID make the mistake, but thanks to a small group of amazing authors I associate with on Facebook, I caught it before publishing my second book.  The mistake–using the lyrics of another person's song in the book.


In the back of my mind, I thought two things.  First, I'm no mega-bestseller, so who the hell cares?  Second, fair use, right?  Wrong.  Starting with the second point, there is no fair use for songs because they are too short.  Apparently, it is acceptable to use thetitleof the song, but none of the words.  Not even a couple.  As to the second point, even if you're not a bestseller, you can get nabbed for using what amounts to copyrighted material from another artist.  And, removing the reference won't necessarily help you avoid a lawsuit.  Finally, citation to the song is not sufficient to cover your butt either.


In short, get permission to use the lyrics, just avoid using another artist's lyrics at all, or write your own damn song!  Good luck writing Stairway to Heaven though…


Here is a very good article I found online by Lori Lake on the topic (it spells out the legalities in more detail).  http://www.justaboutwrite.com/A_Archive_IntellectProp3.html



View more on Derek Blass's website »
1 like ·   •  1 comment  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on March 20, 2012 13:10
Comments Showing 1-1 of 1 (1 new)    post a comment »
dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Mark (last edited Mar 26, 2012 05:25AM) (new)
Mar 26, 2012 05:23AM

Mark Rice I faced this problem when writing Metallic Dreams, which is set in the arena of heavy metal music and therefore full of musical references. Many of the lyrics from the first draft had to be binned, purely because the record companies that owned the rights to them wouldn't return e-mails or phone calls. In order to legally include lyrics in your book, there are two things you must do. Firstly, determine who owns the rights to the lyrics. This isn't always easy; it may be a record company, the artist who wrote the lyrics, a music-publishing company, or another individual or organisation. Once you know who owns the rights to the lyrics, you must gain their written permission to quote those lyrics in your published work. Then, on the copyright page of your book, acknowledge the person/organisation that owns the lyrics. It's not impossible to gain permission to use lyrics, but more often than not it's a one-way journey up a dead-end street.

Here's what I discovered when chasing permission to quote lyrics in my novel: (1) record companies are run by assholes who won't so much as return a phone call or e-mail unless there's a zillion dollars in it for them (the exception to this rule is EMI, which was polite and super-helpful to me); (2) musicians tend to be very happy to co-operate with writers, as long as their lyrics are used in a way that's respectful to the people who created them. With regards to point #2 above, I struck up great friendships with a couple of musical artists as a result of using their lyrics in my book. In both cases, I was put on the guest list for their 2011 Scottish gigs and treated like royalty after the shows. So, in a nutshell, don't expect anything from record companies: they rarely deliver. Musical artists, on the other hand, might just surprise you. And as Derek advises in this blog, never never never use lyrics without first securing written permission from the individual/organisation that owns the rights to those lyrics. Better to axe the lyrics from your novel than to be sued and have to give away every iota of every writing royalty you ever earn.


back to top