Using song lyrics in your book

(Please note that I am not a lawyer and I am not offering legal advice. I am expressing my interpretation of copyright law in relation to using song lyrics in fiction.)

Does ‘San Francisco’ by Scott McKenzie transport you to the summer of love, complete with flowers in your hair? Or maybe ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls sends you straight back to evenings in the uni bar? Nothing taps into our past quite like a song. While certain tunes will be linked to our own personal memories, songs in general can be extremely effective in evoking a sense of time or place, and that can make them irresistible to a writer.

When you’re worldbuilding or scene-setting, a song can be a useful tool. Say you have a scene where your protagonist first meets the girl in a café on a rainy day, and you want to set the mood. There’s going to be a very different feel if Frank Sinatra is playing in the background than if they’re talking over the Sex Pistols. As a way to show not tell (of course!), a couple of lines wafting out of the radio seems like a gift.

But hold up! There’s a problem. Song lyrics are copyrighted, which means that you can’t just use them in your book without permission.

But what about fair use?

You might have heard the term ‘fair use’ bandied about – the idea that you’re allowed to use a small part of a song (or other copyrighted work) without seeking permission.

This exists, but, unfortunately, it isn’t going to cover you.

The law differs from country to country, but in the UK (where it’s called ‘fair dealing’) it allows the use of copyrighted material without permission for non-commercial research and private study, criticism or review, reporting of current events, teaching, and parody or pastiche.

So, you can quote lyrics in a research paper for your degree, or an article in which you’re reviewing an album, or in a PowerPoint presentation you use in a workshop.

What you can’t do is quote those lyrics in a book which is published and sold.

Not even if it’s just a few words?

No.

How about if I credit the songwriter?

Not even then.

OK, I’ll get permission then

You could do, yes. But, again, it’s not that simple. It never is, is it?! To begin with, you’ll need to find who owns the copyright. This is not the artist, and it’s not necessarily the composer – copyright is usually held by the original song publishing company, or may have been sold on (remember Michael Jackson buying the rights to Lennon/McCartney songs?).

But say you do you do find them, and you contact them and ask for permission. Well, firstly, don’t be surprised if they take ages to respond (and I mean months, possibly), or if they never get back to you, leaving you in limbo.

If you do get a reply, they might:

a) flat out refuse

b) grant permission, with certain criteria and for a fee, in which case, you’ll have to decide whether it’s worth it – how likely is it that you’ll recoup the costs?

If you’re pursuing traditional publishing (and we’re not talking about vanity presses or publishing services here – see this post for an explanation of the differences), this may be your publisher’s responsibility (but check your contract!). As they’re the ones publishing the book, they’re in the legal hot seat. Although they may well just avoid the issue by asking you to remove the lyrics in the first place.

So what can I do?

If you’re self-publishing, you might feel tempted just to stick the lyrics in your novel anyway. After all, it’s only going to be a line or so, and no one’s going to find out, right?

That’s a bit risky, though. If your book suddenly takes off and catches the attention of the copyright holder you could find yourself at the very least in hot water defending your case, and at worst being forced to pay a fine and destroy the remaining copies of your book.

This is why the advice you’ll often find is ‘Don’t quote song lyrics in your book.’

There are a couple of other options available to you though.

Use the song title only

Song titles are not copyrighted. You are fine to say that Jake ordered the cappuccinos to the dulcet tones of ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, or that he spilt sugar over Francesca’s skirt just as Johnny Rotten launched into ‘Anarchy in the UK’. That might be sufficient to set your scene, especially if you use songs so well known that the reader is likely to make an instant connection.

Use lyrics that are in the public domain

Copyright doesn’t exist forever; when it ends, the work passes into the public domain and can be used. The law differs from country to country. In the UK, copyright in a musical composition is limited to the life of the author plus 70 years, so songs written by people who died before 1954 are probably now out of copyright. In the US, copyright exists for 95 years from publication, so at the time of writing, songs published in 1928 or earlier are in the public domain. Doesn’t give you a huge amount to choose from, but you could find something useful. Be careful, though. Lyrics of more recently published versions of older songs may be slightly different and under their own copyright – you can use the traditional lyrics of the fold song ‘Scarborough Fair’ but those sung by Simon and Garfunkel may be a different story.

For songs in the public domain, and more info, take a look at PD Info or the Open Music Archive.

Apply for permission

If you’re self-publishing and really want to quote some lyrics in your book, by all means give it a go! Authors are sometimes successful in gaining (affordable) permission.

It’s not easy to find the publisher(s) of a song. They’re listed on the sheet music, and often on lyrics pages on websites such as LyricFind, so that could be a good place to start. Or browse the music publisher websites. The largest in the world is Sony, so you could start by looking at their list. The Universal Music Publishing Group is another big one.

And if you do gain permission, I’d love to hear about your experience!