Question about copyright in stories

[squirrelzo]

Does lit have any issue with copyright within stories, like quoting a whole poem or song lyrics or something like that?

 

[Weird Harold]

Does lit have any issue with copyright within stories, like quoting a whole poem or song lyrics or something like that?

Yes they do. What you describe goes far beyond "Fair Use" of copyrighted material.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Does lit have any issue with copyright within stories, like quoting a whole poem or song lyrics or something like that?

The site doesn't always enforce it, but that probably would be a violation if the work's still in copyright, yeah.

 

[squirrelzo]

Gotcha. Thanks. So much for that idea!

 

[Hypoxia]

Like everything else, it depends. Quoting an entire lyric or poem in one piece would indeed infringe copyright. Quoting it in verses / stanzas / strophes / lines intermixed with your text, where you essentially comment or build on that section, would likely be considered "fair use". For example (abridged version):

LOVE IS A BURNING THING

Oh shit, he made me so hot, I just couldn't help myself. I nearly stripped naked right then.

AND IT MAKES A FIERY RING

My thoughts, my feelings, just swirled around me like smoke clouds. I nearly blew away.

BOUND BY WILD DESIRE

I just had to get closer. Close enough to touch, to feel, to taste, to engulf, to swallow.

I FELL INTO A RING OF FIRE

I could take no more. I threw away my old life. No matter the cost, I was his, to live or die.

----------------------

For a better understanding, google for FAIR USE.

 

[squirrelzo]

Lol thank you! That was quite enjoyable, as well as informative.

 

[KlaytonFrost]

I'd be careful of song lyrics though. Fair use is fair use, but it has been known for authors to be pursued for large sums of money just for quoting a couple of lines from a song.

Poems and so on are policed less aggressively, but it's definitely worth being wary when using song lyrics.