Copyright infringement, influence, homage... where's the line?

[PorscheLynn]

There are several songs, particularly ones by Jill Sobule, that I would love to use as the basic groundwork for stories. Yet I hesitate, because I'm a tad paranoid. Where's that line? Like, if I take a phrase that sums up the feeling of a scene, and use it within the story, is that "ok"? Would it be better or worse to change the character names? Should I just play it safe and not write the stories?

Answers to these ponderings, and any other thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[gauchecritic]

I had a character sing a verse from a song in my latest story (the action he was watching reminded him intently of the song and the name fitted exactly) and I gave full credit at the end of the story.

Seems to me that while ever you're not profitting from the story (financially) then there isn't a lot that the songwriter can dislike or sue you for.

If the song is published and sung by someone else then that is what PRS is for.

I'm guessing that if you give credit then there isn't a great deal wrong.

Plagiarism, as far as I know, concerns passing off someone's work as your own.

Intellectual copywrite on the other hand is a brand new minefield and could possibly be the basis for a cease and desist order, but again, whileever you're not profiteering I can see no problem.

Laurel and Manu's liability here is something I wouldn't even venture a guess at, although I do understand that they would toe the line of an order to cease and desist.

Gauche

 

[Guest]

PL: I used the Kink's song "Lola" in one of my stories, several lines. I credited them at the end. I figured if it wasn't OK, the story would not have been posted.

Perdita

 

[BohemianEcstasy]

I know that's how everything else operates as far as research papers, newspaper articles, etc.: as long as you credit the original author or copyright owner with having ownership of the property, you can use it without permission if (and only if, I believe) you aren't financially profitting from the story. If you are making money from using the material in question, I believe you have to get written permission from the original owner/creator.

 

[Weird Harold]

There are several songs, particularly ones by Jill Sobule, that I would love to use as the basic groundwork for stories. Yet I hesitate, because I'm a tad paranoid. Where's that line? Like, if I take a phrase that sums up the feeling of a scene, and use it within the story, is that "ok"? Would it be better or worse to change the character names? Should I just play it safe and not write the stories?

Answers to these ponderings, and any other thoughts would be appreciated.

The words and music of a song are protected by copyright, but you can quote "parts" of a song to set mood and be generally safe under what's called Fair Use -- especially if you give credit to the writer/perfomer in some way.

The Story told in song can be retold in your own words without much fear of copyright infringement -- in most cases -- because there are only about 36 stories that are possible. I've seen numerous erotic stories that were "inspired by a song."

Write your story, and then read it with a crititical eye to ask yourself if the result is a "copy of the song" or simply "inspired by the song" -- rewrite your story until you have no doubt that it's your story told in your words. When you're confident that you could defend your story as your intepretation of the "story behind the song," you probably CAN defend it and you should post it.

 

[snooper]

... If you are making money from using the material in question, I believe you have to get written permission from the original owner/creator.

Yes. However, I have never had anyone refuse to allow quotations and mood setting. Where people would draw the line, I believe is the use of characters, settings, etc. to produce new and unauthorised stories. Even if you are not making money from your work, you can still be in trouble. Disney and J.K.Rowling, for example, will chase hard against anyone using "their" characters and scenes for writing porn. This despite the fact that Disney characters are almost all copied from someone else. Even Mickey Mouse comes from a fresco in a sixteenth century church in Anatolia.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

As a reader, I would beg you to be very careful in using snatches of song to set a mood or describe an emotion. It’s a beginner’s trick, akin to giving cup size. It’s okay if the lyrics can stand on their own, but too often authors assume everyone knows a particular piece of music and that it means the same to everyone else as it means to them, and they’re almost invariably wrong. There’s nothing that alienates you from a story so thoroughly as reading that the heroine came home and slipped such-and-such a song on the box because it fit her mood exactly, and you’ve never even heard of the piece. It makes the writer seem immature and the reader feel out of it.

Music has such strong emotional connotations for us that it’s always tempting to bring it into a story. It saves us the trouble of having to set or describe a mood. Maybe it works for other people, but to me it’s a symptom of a lazy or inarticulate writer, and unless there’s a very good reason for using it, I usually backclick out of there.

---dr.M.

 

[PorscheLynn]

No worries on that score, Dr. M - Weird Harold's post sums up pretty much how I intend to use music as an influence; it tells a story, a story that I feel could be retold in more detail.

My concern is things like keeping a character's name the same (it's only Karen, nothing wildly unusual like Hermione Granger...) or using the occasional phrase that's in the song, because it's already the best way to describe something. In the song, she is described as "firm, but approachable" (with regard to what she's like as a boss) and I see no better way to say that. How bad is it to use a few phrases in that way? I would definitely include an authour's note saying it was inspired by the song/artist.