Using Lyrics in your Book – Don’t
Using Lyrics in your Book – Don’t

Using Lyrics in your Book – Don’t

If you’ve ever had the desire to use song lyrics in your novel, I’ve one word for you. Don’t.

There is a very good reason. You’ll get sued. Yes, that’s what the music industry does when it finds it’s copyrighted material in other published works. It sues. And you don’t want to be on the receiving end of it. These guys are rich and very litigious. They don’t care that it adds a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ to a particular chapter or helps provide an ideal backdrop for your character’s actions. It’s illegal, unless you have permission. And if you’re using song lyrics in a book, you’ve not got permission.

How do I know this? Because getting permission is eye-wateringly expensive. Unless you’re Stephen King, you can’t afford them.

So, just put it out of your head. Ignore the thought. Just proceed without the lyrics.

Can you put in an approximation describing the lyrics? Yes. No problem with that, as long as you’re not using the exact lyrics or a large proportion of them.

Can you use song titles in your work?

Yes, oddly enough. You can use these with no permission. There is no law against it.

“A song title is not a copyrightable work. There is not enough unique and original content to the song title to grant it an independent copyright. So, if you come up with a new song, you are free to use a title for the song that has been used before.” University of Oregon.

There are one or two notable exceptions but it’s to do with trademark law, not copyright law.

‘Ziggy Stardust’ is famously a trademark owned by David Bowie’s estate. The Rolling Stones has also trademarked it’s name. You could well be sued if you are seen to be using either for profit in your writing.

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