Thursday 11 November 2010

Are the song lyrics in my novel going to cause copyright issues?

It just occurred to me this morning that if I want to keep the song lyrics in my novel, I think I'm going to have to seek and pay for permission. I have lots of snippets of songs through my story, but there are lyrics of one song I will just DIE if I have to remove. I can handle doing away with the rest, but this particular song not only means the world to me, and brings me to tears every time I listen to it, but the lyrics have a HUGE amount of significance to what happens in the story.
What am I going to do if I have to remove them? I'm obviously going to have to make up my own, but then, if readers want to actually 'hear' what the song is (for example, on YouTube, I've embedded it below) they won't be able to, which will make me incredibly sad.
The song is, I Want You, by Elvis Costello, and I listened to it over and over as I was writing the scene it appears in. Wouldn't it be awesome if my readers could do the same thing?
My novel is in first person, and written in the present simple - so it's pretty in your face. It would be like the reader was actually living that moment. Wouldn't it? And wouldn't it make it that extra special to read?
I'm still waiting on a reply from my publisher about this. So keep your fingers crossed I can get permission to use it!!!
Have you got any song lyrics in your work that you may have to seek permission to use? How would it make you feel if you had to remove them? If you've already published a book with song lyrics you've acquired the rights to use, was it difficult?


28 comments:

  1. Well, though I also have lyrics in mine, because the novel is based on the protag being the musician, they are her lyrics and ones I wrote for the book. When she refers to other bands, I altered their names so not to get in any legal trouble. This is a tough one. That would suck if you had to remove something that was a big part of telling the story, as music often does in life...

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  2. I hope you can use it! Elvin Costello, what a song writer! Powerful song.

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  3. Jessica,
    If more than the beginning line, I think yes, you will need permission. You might want to check out Madeline Sharples' journey with this process on her blog and maybe she will share some time-saving tips with you:
    http://madeline40.blogspot.com/2010/09/getting-permissions-second-third-fourth.html

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  4. Wow, that's tough. I don't know the answer but I think a previous commenter is probably correct.
    CD

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  5. I'm with Clarissa that's tough, but it sounds like Lucky Press is helpful!

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  6. Jessica- I had the same issue last year and I asked my pub, they said (if I recall this right), up to 25 words of a song lyric is ok..but validate that with your pub!

    My songs was Magic Bus by the Who and Fire and Rain by James Tailor... :)

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  7. I edited a book that had song lyrics. She got permission, it was pretty easy. Your publisher might help you with that.

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  8. You might have to get the rights to publish the lyrics. I had a couple lyrics in a short story that was published, and they had to be cut. It was only four short lines of a song just about everyone knows (I knew them but I'm not a fan of the music), but since I didn't have the rights, they had to be cut.

    I wish you luck with whatever you have to do. Hopefully you can figure out how to keep some of it without too much trouble.

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  9. Oh man, this sucks. There is almost no way you will get permission to use lyrics from such a successful artist without paying for a license. I'm not an expert in publishing, but I used to own a record label and I assume it's just like using musical samples. If you don't get it cleared first you can get sued, big time.

    Still people do do it. That is why there are so many "white label" bootleg records.

    I'm sure Chris's link has some great advice. That is Chris, right?

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  10. One of my books has a couple songs- a slow 'Quando quando quando' and a radio head cover (I'm sure you can guess which). It's shelved for the moment so I haven't had to worry about rights to the songs but that's a good question and I'd be interested in hearing what your editor says?

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  11. Tough one. Is there a way you can allude to the song without actually repeating the lyrics?

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  12. Fascinating issue. Can't wait to hear how this works out. How cool would it be for Elvis Costello to give his blessing -- in exchange for written credits and a free copy of the book??

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  13. Yeah, I've also heard it may be hard to do. It depends on whether or not (and how much)the publisher is willing to pay for it.

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  14. You're going to need permission from Elvis Costello...
    I have lyrics in one of mine as well, I'm sure I'll have to take them out, but it's a song by Oasis and they're not around much anymore, so it might not be too hard. Hope you're able to keep it in.

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  15. I heard 3 lines is okay. After that, the publisher has to pay.

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  16. There’s a lot in info in the comments. Hopefully one will help you out. Let us know what happens.

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  17. Since I'm self-publishing my book I needed to contact the publisher of a Monty Python song from which I quote two full verses. The hardest part was tracking down WHO to go to in order to obtain the rights; getting them was easy but it cost me $100. Because you're not self-publishing then your publisher should obtain those rights for you.

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  18. I used to deal w/copyright issues all the time when I was an editor at LSU. The need for copyright clearance depends on the percentage of the work you use--there's an actual percent amount. Not sure what it is for songs. You should *always* credit the artist regardless b/c that's just good manners. For the Costello work, you're going to have to get permission. BUT! I bet you get it. It's free publicity for him, man! And artists are cool like that. We share~ ;o) <3

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  19. You'll definitely need PERMISSION for everything you include--some sources just ask for a citing and others for a payment. Write and ask nicely, and if he says yes, go for it.

    Helena (Becoming Layla) went through this for her book that she is intending to self-publish and had some Monty Python lines that I think she had to pay $100 to use and her other request, they just said 'happy to lend it' so it really depends (may be worth thinking of some alternative songs for some of it--if it is positive PR for the song, I'd think he might be happy.

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  20. I had lyrics in The Hating Game and my publisher's lawyer told me there might be a copyright issue and they didn't even want to go down that road. So - bye bye lyrics! You might want to check it out with your publisher, though... good luck!

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  21. I had lyrics in The Hating Game and my publisher's lawyer told me there might be a copyright issue and they didn't even want to go down that road. So - bye bye lyrics! You might want to check it out with your publisher, though... good luck!

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  22. I hope you can use it. I love this song! It really would bring the moment alive for the reader.

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  23. I'm going to trust Janice with this one. As a publisher, she should probably know! :-)

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  24. Ugh! I can't imagine what you're going through. I do get really annoyed when authors reference songs in their work, but we can never tell which song their talking about. I wish you luck :)

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  25. Yes. You will have to get permission to use the song lyrics and pay for them as well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that the publishers are okay with it.

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  26. I've heard enough about this that I go out of my way not to include lyrics in my writing! You will most likely need permision. Good luck!

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  27. Janet Aldrich (tec4)15 November 2010 at 21:56

    I'd like to know how much qualifies as "fair use". I have one line, slightly paraphrased, in my WIP and I'd like to keep it.

    Please let us know how this comes out!

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  28. This darn legal stuff getting in the way of our creativity! I'd imagine that permission would have to be given and you'd need to acknowledge it in the book. Hopefully you won't have to pay though :) Let us know how you get on with it :)

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