[stylist] question about song lyrics

[Brad Dunsé]

Chris,

If printed lyrics are treated like using a bit of 
a song in something, there is a blurry line in 
what constitutes legal or not. Just a little 
might get by with a pass, but significant use 
warrants permission and often a sync license to 
use it. What is "just a little" and what is 
"significant" is kind of a liquid debate from what I've seen.

I will say you'd probably have better luck asking 
the publisher about lyric useage rather than 
sound byte usage. Don't ask the artist, artist's 
manager, or agent unless you know they own the 
copyright. If I write a song, a publisher signs 
it and Pat Benatar records it, the publisher owns 
it because they won't sign it unless they get to 
own it. But you ought be able to go to ASCAP, BMI 
or SESAC's web site and search for the info. 
Google might even produce the publisher to contact.

"Hit them with your best shot"

Brad


On 2/16/2012  02:58 PM Chris Kuell said...
>Greetings,
>
>I'm reading a manuscript (on my VR Stream - 
>thank you very much) and have a question about 
>the use of song lyrics in a novel, for those who 
>know what they are talking about. In one place, 
>a character is listening to the radio when a 
>favorite John Mayer song comes on and the main 
>character sings along for a few lines, "I'm 
>bigger than my body, bigger than my body, bigger 
>than my body gives me credit for..."
>
>At another point she's in the shower singing the 
>first four lines of Pat Benatar's 'Love is a Battlefield'.
>
>In both of the above cases, the song lyrics 
>compliment the theme of the scenes.
>
>My question is--is it okay to use these lines 
>without permission? Is it okay to use these 
>lines if the author references the song, artist, 
>label and date recorded/produced at the end of 
>the book? Or, should the writer not use the 
>lines unless he gets permission from the artist?
>
>Thanks,
>
>chris
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Brad Dunsé

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