by Anne R. Allen
Song lyrics inspire a lot of writers. Often a song that means a lot to you may be what inspired your book in the first place.
Or you may need to quote those Garth Brooks lyrics to give an authentic tone to that bar scene in your memoir. The band played that song the night your ex asked for a divorce. It’s what really happened!
And the hero of your Romance novel needs to sing that ’80s song to his true love at just the right moment so they’ll fall in love. Nobody could say it better than The Purple One.
Maybe you just want to use lines from a song as headers for your chapters. Or in a dedication in the front matter.
Can you do that? Short answer: yes. But you’re going to have to pay. A whole lot.
These days famous music artists are selling off their catalogues to big corporations. Why are corporations paying big bux to buy these catalogues? So they can charge even bigger bux from people who want to use those songs — and their lyrics — in movies and advertisements and tear-jerking requests for donations to animal charities.
And they’re not going to reduce those fees for some lowly writer.
We published a post back in 2013 from author Michael Murphy about how to buy rights to song lyrics. But now that so many artists no longer own those lyrics, it’s tougher, so I figured it was time for an update.
Fair Use
Isn’t there some kind of rule that you can use a couple of lines from something without worrying about copyright?
Yup. It’s called “fair use.”
Thing is: fair use doesn’t apply to songs. That’s because songs often have very few lines to use — fairly or otherwise.
So be careful you don’t make a typo and have your character step on the gas gas gas, or you might have Keith and Mick’s lawyers on your doorstep asking for their cash cash cash for using a line from Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
What you CAN use without permission is a song’s title. Titles can’t be copyrighted.
That means you can say “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” but you can’t say “Jumpin’ Jack Flash is a [US term for petrol times three]”, or you’re going to have to pay.
Public Domain Song Lyrics
What you can also do is use lyrics of songs that are in the public domain. You’re safe with the lyrics of songs written before 1926. Some things written after that are OK, too, if the copyright wasn’t renewed. So it’s worth a check. Here are the basic rules for US copyright.
We now celebrate “Public Domain Day” on January first of each year when there’s a list of new works that have come into the public domain.
As of January 1st of 2022, you can use the lyrics of Second Hand Rose, Give my Regards to Broadway, Bye Bye Blackbird, Are you Lonesome Tonight? Someone to Watch Over Me, and hey, how about The Cows May Come and the Cows May Go, but the Bull Goes on Forever?
But if you quote the Rolling Stones, (even if you think they look as if they were born before 1926) you’re going to have to pay them. Or whoever owns their catalogue at the moment.
Can’t I Buy the Rights to Song Lyrics?
You certainly can, if you have the money. Or maybe your publisher will have the money.
Here’s Blake Morrison in the Guardian talking about the price of using song lyrics in his novel South of the River, back in 2013.
“I’d restricted myself to just a line or two from a handful of songs and vaguely hoped that was OK or that no one would notice. My editor, reasonably enough, was more cautious, and at the last minute someone from the publishing house helpfully secured the permissions on my behalf.
‘I still have the invoices. For one line of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”: £500. One line of Oasis’s “Wonderwall”: £535. For one line of “When I’m Sixty-four”: £735. For two lines of “I Shot the Sheriff” (words and music by Bob Marley, though in my head it was the Eric Clapton version): £1,000. Plus several more, of which only George Michael’s “Fastlove” came in under £200. Plus VAT. Total cost: £4,401.75. A typical advance for a literary novel by a first-time author would barely meet the cost.”
Ouch.
I totally relate to the urge to use song lyrics. My first stories relied on them heavily. My generation was all about its music, and I felt Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, and Carole King could express what my characters were feeling much better than I could.
Not that I was wrong on that. My teenaged self didn’t express myself very well. Luckily, I didn’t try to publish those stories. If I had, I’d have run into some big trouble.
Try Writing Your Own Song Lyrics
Here’s an idea: you could write your own lyrics. I’m not being silly. This is doable. You’re a writer, remember? You might very well be able to write song lyrics in the style of the artist you’re wanting to quote.
When I wrote my novels about Boomers set in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, it seemed impossible to separate my Boomer characters from the music background of their lives. But I solved the problem by writing my own lyrics. I had a whole lot of fun writing a David Crosby-style folk-rock love song, Happy Endings are Only for Fairy Tales and a Donna Summer-type disco song, City Girls, and a druggy metal anthem, Bored as Hell.
I was so pleased when my editor told me I’d have to get permission to use them. 😊
What if I Already Self-Published a Book that Quotes Song Lyrics?
It’s been out for a year and nobody’s said a thing!
Right. And you probably haven’t many sales outside your immediate family. But you are skating on mighty thin ice.
Your Aunt Sally might leave the book on a train and somebody who works for the artist’s company picks it up and reads it. They come across the artist’s lyrics and — bam! Two weeks later you get a bill fo $5000.
Don’t gamble with this stuff. Pull the book, revise, and republish. You’ll be glad you did.
Do You Really Need Those Song Lyrics?
Yes, you wrote your entire memoir with Springsteen’s Born to Run running in your head, and if you’d never heard Long, Hard Times to Come by Gangstagrass you’d never have thought of the plot of your hillbilly gangster thriller. And how could you have finished writing that romantic comedy without Beyoncé playing in the background?
But do your readers need to know that? The book is you — all you. And you don’t have to give credit for your inspiration to famous musicians any more than you need to credit the mocking bird outside your writing shed who kept imitating a frog and gave you the most important clue for your mystery novel. Or the weirdly wet spring that allowed you to imagine yourself in England as you worked on that book every day of your vacation. Or the suncatcher in the window that cast inspiring colors on your keyboard when the sun finally came out.
Your book is your creation. And I’ll bet you have the creativity to convey everything about your scenes and characters on your own without the crutch of other people’s words.
So skip the song lyrics. Or write your own. You don’t need to pay some greedy corporation for the privilege of using a few words written by a pop star. Remember, you’re a writer, too.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) May 7, 2022
What about you, scriveners? Do you have song lyrics lurking in your WIP or a story you’re thinking you might send out to a few journals? Have you sent a manuscript to your publisher that had song lyrics in it? Have you felt frustrated because you can’t get the rights to quote your favorite song? Have you ever written song lyrics for your fiction?
Update:
Re: the ongoing saga of the Brits who want to put me in the hoosegow because a reader’s comment on a 2021 post on this blog got their knickers in a twist. Apparently they might be able to punish me for third party comments on our blog, even though it’s against section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act of 1996.
I did delete the offending comments and apologized, but that wasn’t enough to quell this teapot-tempest. So had to post another apology written in their words, in a separate post. If you got a notice of a midweek post that seemed way out of character and perhaps a little unhinged, that was it.
Instead of asking me politely to remove the offending comments, according to normal Internet etiquette, these conflict-loving folks hired scary lawyers to terrify, threaten and bully me.
Not what I needed when coming out of cataract surgery last Tuesday.
At first I thought it was all a hoax, but it turns out the scary lawyers are real. So yesterday I was advised to give in to their demands rather than interact further with people with obvious mental health issues.
So do be kind in your comments, don’t mention any company names (email me instead), and hope these litigious Limeys find another way to amuse themselves this week.
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***
featured image ‘The Singing Lesson” by George Castex 1893.
Excellent info, Anne. I especially liked this: “But if you quote the Rolling Stones, (even if you think they look as if they were born before 1926) …”
I’m so sorry you’re being harassed by people who should have better things to do with their time. I’d say more, but they might penalize you for my comment.
Kathy–Yeah, that Keef–I think he’s lived 10 years in every one of his actual earth years. 🙂 The harassment is pretty grim. I keep waking up at night full of dread, scared they’re about to knock on my door. These people are so unhinged, I fear they’re capable of anything.
Anne—Thank you for a clear, practical, money-saving explanation of what writers can — and cannot — when using song titles/lyrics.
Sorry to hear about the harassment you’re dealing with. Would love to answer them the way the Ukrainians replied to that “Russian warship.” 😉
Ruth–It’s such a universal problem with new writers. There’s a song that just soooo perfect for the scene. But it’s not worth it.
Yeah, the harassment is infuriating and scary. And yes, in my fantasy world, I would love to send a nice little drone the way the Ukranians did with that Russisan warship.
I knew one has to pay for song lyrics. And that they were expensive!
Really sorry about the lawyers and the comment. That truly seems not only unfair, but illegal to go after you.
Alex–I thought it had to be illegal too. It’s right there in the US law. But UK laws are draconian and according to Writer Beware, Brits have been harassing US authors this way for some time. Nobody in North America could sue me, but Brits can. I wonder if we could find a way the blog could be blocked in the UK.
Oh goodness, I am still cross with Queen as they didn’t allow me to use some lyrics for my novel when I asked them for permission to use some of ‘I want to break free’.
It would have been perfect for my story and my character dancing to the song right at the end when she finally managed to begin to ‘break free from her own chains’.
☹☹☹☹
Katja–Don’t you hate that? Sometimes the song is so perfect. But I imagine whoever owns the Queen catalogue now would charge 1000s. Not worth it. 🙁
Thank you for this information and the cautionary note, Anne.
Quick question: If the title is part of the lyric I’m hoping that it’s still free to use.
And congratulations for writing your own songs. That’s very impressive.
Leanne–The title can never be copyrighted, so you can use it even if it’s also the only lyric of the song.
I’m writing a novel set in 1969 – “Winter’s Own Children”. As you say – the songs are the era, so been dithering about it. I’m now very clear – if not a revision of a true “folk song” that’s in public domain, then write my own lyrics. It’s a fantastic, simple, doable idea and is sending me happily back to work.
Lola–I’m so glad I inspired you to write your own lyrics. 60s folk and folk-rock are the most fun for me to write. Have a blast!
Great title, by the way!
Ah, litigation. Since you note it’s acceptable to cite a song title — The times, they are a changin’.
CS–In spite of the truth of Mr. Dylan’s great song, I don’t think these lawsuit-happy folks are setting a trend. In fact, their tech savvy suggests they have recently arrived via TARDIS from 1972. All their books are out of print because they don’t use POD, and they have no e-books. The two paperbacks they sell are priced so high they can’t sell in today’s marketplace.
So sorry about the harassment, and hope your eye surgery recovery is going well despite the irritation. No pun intended.
As for song lyrics, I have referenced the gist of a song before, such as:
Here I sit on a Saturday night on a lopsided barstool listening to some singer lament about love turning to ash in a burning house.
Not really a line from one of my books, but referring to “Burning House” by Cam without using any actual lyrics.
I take it this sort of referencing is okay?
As for writing my own lyrics, great idea!
Brenda–That’s just fine. In fact it’s very clever. Referencing a song and creating its atmosphere without using anything more than the title is the way to get around all the nonsense.
Thanks! My eye is healing much slower than the first one, but at least I can see!
Thanks Brenda, that was one of my questions too.
So, an example (on a similar theme to yours…) if my frazzled leading-gal character is driving along an isolated road and runs out of *petrol* … can I (safely, and inexpensively) have her tearing her hair out, muttering [that 3-letter G-word] times 3 — perhaps prompting a few readers to make the association?
Excellent! Thank you for answering my question, Anne.
Sorry to hear about the legal issue, Anne. Very scary indeed.
I wanted to use a few song lyrics in my first book, but was advised that it would take a lot of work and money to get the rights. The most interesting one was the song “Heigh-ho” sung in the Disney movie “Snow White.” I contacted the company that has the rights and told them I only wanted to use the first two lines and would pay for the right. They responded that they would not give me the rights to even that much. The scene I was going to use the song in was in an engineering lab where a software developer is looking for a problem that made a bunch of emails disappear. So I made up the words:
A bit, a byte
I’m working day and night.
I’ll get you yet,
My little pet.
I’ll put a bit into your byte.
It was a better fit and more satisfying. (Cheaper too!)
Kay–That’s so clever! Much better than the old cliched Snow White tune. Although I think that was inspired by a traditional folk song: “Hey ho, Hey ho, Nobody at home.” Yeah, psychos who use a nuclear bomb to swat a fly are very scary indeed.
So sorry to read about the litigation problem after your surgery. True, a request to remove comment was all that was necessary. Add to that, who reads (or believes) every comment.
For the song lyrics, I thought the answer would be it would be expensive. One artist was reportedly copyrighting common phrases she used in lyrics. That bordered on ridiculous in my opinion.
So much–I hadn’t heard of the woman copyrighting common phrases. I suppose now she owns “baby, baby, baby.” 🙂
About the comments–yeah. Some bloggers leave up all non-spam comments, so there will be lots of points of view. These people know nothing about Internet behavior. I think they recently arrived via TARDIS from 1972.
What a terrific and important post. Thanks! I will be posting the link on my blog.
Rosi–Thanks much for spreading the word!
Yeah, I was warned off from using song lyric in a story. Not from the rights owner, but from a blog post/article (not quite sure where I’d encountered it as it was so many, many years ago) gave me the 411 about it. So instead, I just used the title of the song (John Denver song) and simply alluded to certain parts of the song while writing the scene. Worked in the descriptive emotions quite well w/o using the lyrics.
Also created brand new band names, which made life that much easier for myself.
GB–I love to think up band names. I’ve always wanted to use “Bitter Vetch”. That’s the only plant that would grow in moon dust. But it sounds so punk.
A good resource for all things copyright is The Copyright Handbook by Nolo Book. It’s written by a lawyer, but in a clear, easy to understand way. Passive Guy is also a lawyer who deals with it and he writes on the topic often.
Linda–Many thanks for the tips! You always have something to add. That’s what comments are for. I wish those barmy Brits knew that.
Excellent reminders and clarification here Anne. When you wrote the actual words here equivalent to – petrol petrol petrol, isn’t that a violation even with you’re demonstrating? And scary stuff, imagine having a line picked out of our books that unknowingly were in a song we’d never heard? Oye! Confusing stuff, I’ll just stay away – or like you said, make my own lyrics. 🙂
Debbie–The laws for the Internet seem to be very different. You can find the lyrics to Jumpin’ Jack Flash, or any other Stones song with a quick Google. Don’t ask me why this is, but this is the quirky reality of the Internet.
Thanks for this answer (and the question – it’s one I had, as well)
I wonder if the distinction between a book (commercial product) vs. blog post (not in and of itself for sale) could explain the difference.
I’ll look into this, as I often draft a post using part of a poem or song as a jumping-off point…
I love your suggestion to write my own lines if I want to have a character sing a song or tell a story to a child or dance to some music. I love the idea. Thank you.
Patricia–It really works. In a recent This is Us episode, Mandy Moore sang a poignant song that almost sounded familiar. But it was written for that episode. Instead of paying a bunch of money for some famous sentimental ballad, the writers composed their own. And it brought tears just the same.
The Stones age in dog years. For every one of ours, they age seven.
Haha!!
So sorry about the threats and harassment, Anne. No matter how innocent you are, this system still requires you to put in countless hours (and often dollars) to protect yourself. Sad.
Debbie–I suppose I should be grateful these Bozos didn’t ask me for money. All they wanted was for me to post their cringy, whingey little message.
Thanks for this, Anne. I love how songs can be inspiring, but I think I’m a good enough writer to write my own lyrics. One of my favorite ever days of writing was an afternoon of songwriting for my MG book. Just so much fun! But, wow, the price of a lyric today. Makes more sense to reference the song by title. The readers can take it from there.
Joan–Writing your own lyrics can be a blast. Or, as you say, you can simply use the title, which usually evokes the mood of the song. The reader’s memory will do the rest.
Love the idea of writing your own song lyrics, Anne. In my debut I included a few lines from Tim McGraw’s Don’t Take the Girl, and my editor crossed them out and taught me a valuable lesson. Never included lyrics again. 😉
I’m so sorry you’ve been dealing with harassment. {{{hugs}}}
Sue–Writing lyrics is fun. I think it uses a different part of the brain from writing prose. Yeah, your editor was right. Saved you some big bux.
Yeah, the harassment has definitely interfered with my life. Knowing there are crazy people out there who can hurt me and hate me for no reason can create a lot of anxiety.
Anne, despite your great advice on this topic six years ago (+-) I did use a song lyric. Not to open the chapters, as I’d wondered about, but the character hears on the radio the words of a song from that era and they pour salt into his emotional wound. This book was published by a small indy publisher. They never said anything about the lyrics. The publisher closed up in 2020 due to Covid. I guess I better find that paragraph and reword it–paraphrasing the emotional kicker for future self-publishing.
Thanks for the reminder! And I did get that odd short post and wondered wth? Now I know. Sometimes the folks crying “criminal” are the real criminals.
Fred–If you can get to that book and change the wording, you’d have peace of mind. Might be worth it.
You’re so right about the criminals. I’ve found out so much that’s creepy about this. Somebody pointed out the only people who use lawsuits like that are gangsters. And showed me these people make approximately 2 sales a month. And are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Can we say “money laundering opportunity”? I’ve sent the info to the FBI.
Hi Anne,
Such a helpful article! I am trying to write a book as well, and I was thinking if I could add lyrics. I love a particular song, and I was thinking to make my character love it too. I am so glad that you shared this, I had this question in mind. I found a very satisfactory answer from this article, and I will definitely share it with some of my writer friends as well. Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing article.
How about if a character misquotes the lines of a popular song? (i.e. Jumpin’ Mack Flash bought some gas)
Blue Fox–Haha! I’m not a lawyer, but that sounds just fine. Using lyrics for the purpose of satire is allowed. Weird Al’s career would not exist without that loophole.
The editors would think it was a spelling error. 🙂
Great advice. Thanks, Anne. I hope the surgery went well, and I’m sorry about the harassment. If some people dedicated their efforts to doing something useful the world would be a better place. All the best.
Olga–Yes, the eye surgery went okay, but it’s taking 3 times longer to heal than the other one. I still have a swollen cornea, so the docs are worried. I agree about people who waste their time on petty things when they could be doing something useful with their lives. Sigh.
https://dgkayewriter.com/2022/05/20/may-writers-tips-copyrights-plagiarism-book-matter-and-more/
Big chunks of food for a writer’s thought. Do you know about the situation when something is in the public domain, but then a contemporary artist republishes it — their now contemporary version — that they now copywrite?
Grace–Only the contemporary version is copyrighted. So if Lizzo did her own version of Give My Regards to Broadway, only her version is copyrighted, but you can use the original with no trouble.
Your ol’ pal and groupie, Steve, back from the desert of writing. Terrific and helpful article. I’ll have to run through my 3 books to check on lyrics, though no one else reads them, I hope only because my marketing is nil. I had the cataract double-header, too, and was much luckier than thou. Hardest part was coordinating the three eye-drop patterns differently for each eye in the 2nd week. That was no fun, but got it done. (Gee, that could be a lyric; I’ll will it to you.) Does the same standard for lyrics apply to poem lines? Though, even if it does, probably no Corpo watchdogs watching.
Steve–Good to see you here! Cataract surgery isn’t fun, but it sure is great to get it done! (I’ll have to think of a tune for that.) Mine were so bad I had to press my nose against the monitor just to read a normal font on the computer.
It’s worth it to check for lyrics in your contemporary novels, just to make sure. Poems aren’t the same. As you guessed, poets don’t have the money or time to spend on such nonsense. They just want you to spell their names right. Just make sure it’s “fair use”–that is 10% or less of the poem.
Sorry, but titles (of songs) CAN be copyrighted.
Rats–Are you a lawyer? Because that’s not what the lawyers I know say. A title can be trademarked, but not copyrighted.
Anne, this source agrees with you.
Many thanks, Fred. Writer’s Digest, Reedsy, and Ask A Music Lawyer all agree too. I’m afraid Mr. Rats is getting his info from Reddit forums. Not always accurate.
Wow! Scary stuff.
Question: what about accidentally including song lyrics? In a 100k book I would imagine it would be pretty easy to accidentally have some string of four or five words in a row that happens to also be four or five word that are part of some song written someplace? Especially if it’s a short phase that’s a common idiom (which come up frequently in songs). If somewhere in your manuscript you have:
“How was your trip, I hear the path to Firedale is tricky.”
“It’s a long and winding road, that’s for sure.”
Are you going to get sued by Paul McCartney? If so do you go about preventing this, if you’re not a walking encyclopedia of music?
DH–I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve never heard of anybody from ASCAP going through books looking for accidental phrases. If that were true, Justin Bieber could sue anytime anybody said the word “baby” a few times. So no worries. You have to 1) have a pretty big-selling book 2) intentionally quote the song. Anyway, “The Long and Winding Road” is a title. Not the whole lyric. If you went on to say “that leads to your door, will never disappear…” you might have a problem. But any normal phrase that people use all the time can’t be copyrighted or trademarked. Some creeps have tried, but it didn’t work. 🙂
Very informative read! As a law student who’s also hoping to become an Intellectual Property lawyer one day it was sad to see that you were haunted by some of them, keep writing!
Visesh–Best of luck in your law career. Writers need IP lawyers! The creepy people who bullied me with a phony lawsuit were probably not even lawyers. Just worked at a law firm. They seemed seriously unwell. But sometimes the best way to deal with unwell people is humor them so they’ll go away.