Question: Putting pop song lyrics in stories

[MrLightningStar]

Hello, everyone! Just TODAY, it is my first time to register and post here after 5+ years of reading in this site!

Anyways, I already have a close to finished draft for a story but I'm worried about using song lyrics in the stories themselves. For example, a Prince song, 1999. I mention the first verse and the chorus.

Does that qualify as copyright infringement or is it allowed under fair use or a disclaimer?

 

[GroverLang]

I and many other writers have done it and it’s never been a problem. But I’ve never used or seen more than one verse. Never a complete song or several verses.

 

[ElectricBlue]

You should be able to get that through. Make sure you have a proper credit, and don't quote the whole lyric. I'd suggest a Note to the Editor too, acknowledging what you've done.

I got by with quoting every second verse of a translated poem in one of my stories - it messed up the meaning some, but I got the main stanza that I wanted into the story.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Hello, everyone! Just TODAY, it is my first time to register and post here after 5+ years of reading in this site!

Anyways, I already have a close to finished draft for a story but I'm worried about using song lyrics in the stories themselves. For example, a Prince song, 1999. I mention the first verse and the chorus.

Does that qualify as copyright infringement or is it allowed under fair use or a disclaimer?

I quoted all of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song in
https://www.literotica.com/s/moving-to-the-suburbs

The general view was that I wasn’t promoting it as my work, it was referenced in the story as a Led Zeppelin song, and I’m not making money off it.

If you can work a Prince reference into the story, you should be fine.

Good luck!

 

[MrLightningStar]

Thank y'all for your replies! Anyone else with their methods, keep em coming!

 

[BiscuitHammer]

I use lyrics CONSTANTLY in my stories. My general rule of thumb is to use less than 50% of any lyrics younger than 25 years old, and make sure you put a disclaimer somewhere. Older works which are considered public domain are fair game, of course. I've used entire songs from earlier time periods, up to and including the mid-70's.

From a literary point of view, I find it's best to chop the song up slightly, not just one who block of lyrics text. I intersperse my characters' personal thoughts or feelings along the way, without allowing the song to lose its flow and impact. I recently did that with the Sweet song 'Funny Funny' and got many compliments for how I inserted it seamlessly into the narrative.

Then again, it was a song by Sweet, so not exactly heavy-duty material there.

I also used lyrics from the song 'Wolf Totem' by the Mongolian folk metal band The Hu (great name, I know!), and used them as a war chant for a duel in the 12th century between two khans. That turned out really nicely, I have been told.

So be creative, avoid large blocks of lyrics if possible, and credit where it's due. You should be fine, then.

Keep your stick on the ice and wash your hands, people!

- BH

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I quoted all of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song in
https://www.literotica.com/s/moving-to-the-suburbs

The general view was that I wasn’t promoting it as my work, it was referenced in the story as a Led Zeppelin song, and I’m not making money off it.

If you can work a Prince reference into the story, you should be fine.

This. Quote away - it's 'fair use' provided that you are working it into a story and not claiming it as your own.

 

[oggbashan]

I have used a complete song, 'Jeanie with the light brown hair' but it is years out of copyright.

I used only part of another song 'We'll gather Lilacs' because that is more modern.

 

[Handley_Page]

Hello, everyone! Just TODAY, it is my first time to register and post here after 5+ years of reading in this site!

Anyways, I already have a close to finished draft for a story but I'm worried about using song lyrics in the stories themselves. For example, a Prince song, 1999. I mention the first verse and the chorus.

Does that qualify as copyright infringement or is it allowed under fair use or a disclaimer?

But you really must state the source of the lyrics you quote.

 

[GuessImJamie]

Popular music can effectivly date a period piece, at least for those old enough to recall the song when it first came out. Lisa did a five part story in which each chapter of which started with a succeding verse of a period song that evoked the mood of the time period and hopefully linked the five parts.

Always credit other authors. The artist who recorded the "hit" may not be the author.

Sometimes I like to just slip the credits into the storyline...

The eastern world, it is explodin',
Violence flarin', bullets loadin',
You're old enough to kill but not for votin',
You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin',…

"As the Country Squire drove south through the darkness on Texas Highway 16, the radio played Barry McGuire's rendition of P.F. Sloan's 'Eve of Desruction'. I worried that we really were on the edge of a precipice as I snuggled up next to my brother in the back seat under the blanket.

 

[SimonDoom]

This. Quote away - it's 'fair use' provided that you are working it into a story and not claiming it as your own.

This is not, actually, true. This isn't the law.

Plagiarism and copyright infringement are two different things. Plagiarism is using someone else's work and not crediting them for it. But giving someone credit makes no difference whatsoever with respect to copyright infringement. It's irrelevant. Copyright infringement is the unauthorized reproduction of another's copyrighted work. Attribution and credit are completely irrelevant to whether you have infringed copyright. In fact, they may work against you, because they prove that you knew somebody else owned the copyright but willfully infringed the copyright, anyway.

Quoting the full lyrics of a song and putting it in your story probably IS copyright infringement. If you quoted "Stairway to Heaven" in its entirety in your story and Led Zeppelin wanted to make a fuss about it, they'd win in court if it came to that.

In the real world of Literotica, of course, this is unlikely. It's unlikely that Led Zeppelin, or any other copyright owner, is going to come after you. Nobody's making money here. There's nothing to sue over, in a practical sense. It's doubtful that copyright owners are paying much attention to Literotica.

But if they wanted to take the trouble and get a court order to take down your story, they probably could. You would lose.

It's fine to quote a few lines from a song. That's fair use. But it's not fair use to quote the entire song lyrics.

 

[oggbashan]

...

It's fine to quote a few lines from a song. That's fair use. But it's not fair use to quote the entire song lyrics.

Unless it is so old it is in the public domain.

 

[KeithD]

This. Quote away - it's 'fair use' provided that you are working it into a story and not claiming it as your own.

That's not fair use and the music industry is the most litigious about pursuing copyright violation.

You certainly can get away with quoting lyrics here. There's no money to be made to try to track you down and sue you, but, in terms of copyright law, if you quote more than two lines of a song in your story (or on this discussion board), you are in copyright violation. If you are an author expecting to have your proprietary rights respected, you need to give two thoughts to respecting the proprietary rights of others.

Unless your story is part of school course you're teaching on music, fair use has no application here.

 

[litfan10]

Unless your story is part of school course you're teaching on music, fair use has no application here.

absolutely true.

Since this is an open access to the public site would fair use even apply for educational usage?

 

[KeithD]

absolutely true.

Since this is an open access to the public site would fair use even apply for educational usage?

No. If one of our stories got to a court, which is highly unlikely, the judge would laugh all the way back to her chambers if a fair use defense was launched.

 

[SimonDoom]

Unless it is so old it is in the public domain.

True. You're safe if the composer of the song died more than 70 years ago. You can quote from Gilbert & Sullivan to your heart's content without worry.

Led Zeppelin is a different matter. They're old, but not THAT old.

 

[ElectricBlue]

True. You're safe if the composer of the song died more than 70 years ago. You can quote from Gilbert & Sullivan to your heart's content without worry.

Led Zeppelin is a different matter. They're old, but not THAT old.

Also, quite content to defend their song in court. Old Page and Plant recently won on appeal the claim that they'd stolen the intro to Stairway from another song. Mind you, this from the band whose song credits over time became a little more honest. Like naming the original song-writer honest, but hey, in the sixties, it was easy to overlook the record label of those old 78s!

That is inconsistent on Laurel's part though, letting a whole song lyric go through. She wouldn't let me quote more than fifty percent of a poem.

 

[yukonnights]

I worried about copyright infringement on a story for the; 'One Night In …' contest. My solution was based on an abundance of caution, using just a couple of lines in the Story Introduction.

"…This one that is based on an old song from the late 1960s and a line in it about Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The song should be familiar to many readers. For those not familiar, I'll put a couple of lines of it here to help refresh your memory: "Busted flat in Baton Rouge, headin' for the trains...Feeling nearly as faded as my jeans..." I interpret the song as being primarily about love. Due to the event guidelines and constraints, for this story I can only imagine the beginning of that romance...that first night in Baton Rouge."

I guess my take was, and is; I don't want to deal with any hassles. So I play it safe.

The one thing that confuses me though; I can look up any song ever written on a multitude of different web-sites. I can copy those lyrics until my fingers begin to bleed? Question for you smart folks; Why is that different than putting the lyrics in a story? Is it just an issue of stating the copyright info, or do the web-sites pay royalties per hit, or

 

[KeithD]

The one thing that confuses me though; I can look up any song ever written on a multitude of different web-sites. I can copy those lyrics until my fingers begin to bleed? Question for you smart folks; Why is that different than putting the lyrics in a story? Is it just an issue of stating the copyright info, or do the web-sites pay royalties per hit, or

If those Web sites didn't get permission to post them, they are violating copyright. And, no, it's not enough to give the owner credit. They have to give you permission in writing. Just because everyone is stealing it and reposting it doesn't make it legal.

Maybe at least some of those Web sites are getting proper permissions, though.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Technical responses are perhaps correct, but in the context of what the OP was asking, I’ll stand by what I said.

Moreover, I’m not at all sure LZ would want to open another can of worms over Stairway, not now, not here at least.

 

[KeithD]

Technical responses are perhaps correct, but in the context of what the OP was asking, I’ll stand by what I said.

Moreover, I’m not at all sure LZ would want to open another can of worms over Stairway, not now, not here at least.

Not by calling it "fair use" you won't. Sorry, but that's not fair use. The U.S. Copyright Office Web site would give you background on that.

 

[MetaBob]

I quote song lyrics in many of my pieces, with definite constraints. For example, here's:

A playlist made from lyrics I excerpt my stories. The portion I'm listening to now (from Crossings chapters 4-6):

Writing is an immersive experience for me, and I find music to be a big part of what helps me sink into the full experience, and especially into what my characters are experiencing in their inner headspace. I also cite a lot of lyrics tangentially relevant to my writing, many of which show up on the "What Are You Listening To Now?" thread here. I made a playlist of all the lyrics I've cited in my writing here, and will often play it, especially as a kickstart if I'm feeling like the writing is going more slowly than it should. A particular favorite sequence ... :

Babyfather - Sade
A Case Of You (Live) - Diana Krall
Love Has No Pride - Jane Monheit
Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye
The Order Of Death - Public Image Ltd.
Lovers Rock - Sade
Nightswimming - R.E.M.
Between The Bars - Metric
Slow Life - Of Monsters And Men
Get Me On - Poi Dog Pondering
Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
Sing Me To Sleep (feat. Neko Case) - Fran Healy
Skin Graph - Silversun Pickups

Nice playlist.

Thanks! Using snippets of other people's lyrics walks a fine line, you want to repurpose and recontextualize them for foreshadowing, easter eggs, or as a (sometimes subtle) clue to what one or more characters are thinking or feeling at the time, all while having little or nothing to do with the lyricist's original intent and using music good enough to listen to over and over in a playlist. I'm happy with how I was able to pull it off.

There are few covers in the playlist, but I credit the lyricist rather than the cover artist at the end of each chapter where I use a song.

 

[yukonnights]

If those Web sites didn't get permission to post them, they are violating copyright. And, no, it's not enough to give the owner credit. They have to give you permission in writing. Just because everyone is stealing it and reposting it doesn't make it legal.

Maybe at least some of those Web sites are getting proper permissions, though.

I think there must be some behind the scenes agreements in place. Literally the entire song is there with lyrics and music, for most all popular artists. Some sites charge or require a sign-up, some don't. Hard to believe so many could get away with it illegally w/o some agreements in place.

 

[KeithD]

I think there must be some behind the scenes agreements in place. Literally the entire song is there with lyrics and music, for most all popular artists. Some sites charge or require a sign-up, some don't. Hard to believe so many could get away with it illegally w/o some agreements in place.

No. The Internet is just famous for stealing and reposting without regard to ownership issues. It's being done here on Literotica too--copyrighted material is being left up left and right. Very few of the avatars being used (including Laurels, I'd bet) are legal. And just because a site charges for use doesn't meaning it's paying anything to those it's stealing from. They get away from it because it's a whack-a-mole project to control it. Owners generally just go after who is making money off it that they should be making and even then they have trouble finding who's behind a Web site.

All of this makes me a bit less outraged for authors here who are outraged that their material is being stolen and posted elsewhere. Dollars to donuts they're doing it themselves in one form or other. Where did you get your avatar, for instance? (I own mine--I use my book covers. The images have been paid for to include this use.)

 

[litfan10]

I think there must be some behind the scenes agreements in place. Literally the entire song is there with lyrics and music, for most all popular artists. Some sites charge or require a sign-up, some don't. Hard to believe so many could get away with it illegally w/o some agreements in place.

When I bought my bookstore I was misinformed on the size and thought I fell out of legal parameters to play music for free and would have to pay. So I did my homework.

Holy Fuck! What a convoluted mess. There isn't one company that you pay; there are quite a few with three predominantly large ones that have most (but not all) of the licenses. And individually, they are not cheap at all.

Not only that but depending on the initial contract - numerous entities might get a piece of the pie: performer, writer, and/or producer, and they might not all belong within the same licensing company, meaning to play a particular song you might have to pay more than one company.

I thought something was whacked from day one about the footage I was told by my landlord so I double checked and found I was indeed smaller and happily two hundred square feet below the legal limit for retail space (restaurants have different legal limits based on size and seating.)

The music industry and the movie industry are two I wouldn't want to mess with as they have deep legal pockets and will go after violators for everything they've got.