This blog was originally posted in January 2022, but a recent discussion on the Sisters in Crime daily digest prompted me to send it out once again. That’s because many newbie writers make the mistake of being “clever” and quoting lyrics with abandon. I cover this off in more detail in both my Step-by-Step Publishing Guides, but for now this should give you a very good idea of what (and what not) to do when it comes to using music in your work.
Yes, I know, Stephen King makes it look so easy with his habit of using song lyrics in his novels. But here’s a head’s up: He’s a bestselling author, so most musicians are going to be more than okay with granting permission. And he’s got money, and plenty of it, if he needs to pony up some cash. Odds are if you’re reading this you don’t fall under either category. I know I don’t.
So…can you quote song lyrics in your novel or short story? The short answer is “No.” Song lyrics are copyrighted. Quoting any copyrighted material requires permission, though there is something called the “fair use” clause. Now, for a 85,000-word novel, quoting a sentence or two likely falls under “fair use.” For music, however, where the entire piece is a few verses long, the prevailing wisdom is that you will need permission from the publisher to quote as little as a single line. Even attribution of the lyric and copyright to the songwriter/artist is not enough. And we live in an increasingly litigious society.
Of course, there are exceptions. If a song is in the public domain, then copyright law no longer applies. Here’s a handy dandy list of songs in the public domain as of Jan. 1, 2023.
Another exception would be common expressions used in lyrics. For example, if a song included the lyric, “People like him are a dime a dozen,” and you wrote something like, “Joey was like that song, TITLE, where people like him were a dime a dozen,” you should be okay, because that’s a common expression, not something unique to the author. You can also mention any song title without fear of reprisal, because titles, whether a book, movie, or song, cannot be copyrighted.
You can also imply a song lyric. I’ll use my story, “Goulaigans,” which appears in Heartbreaks & Half-truths as an example. The story is set in much fictionalized Goulais River, a small town in northern Ontario on the shores of Lake Superior. Here’s a snippet of the dialogue (and if you’re unfamiliar, or just want a reminder, here’s a link to Lightfoot’s song).
Laura’s body washed up on shore three days later, about a mile from the old Donaldson place.
“Whatever happened to Superior not giving up its dead?” Tucker asked me. We were sitting in my cabin, sipping on twelve-year-old whiskey. Now that Laura was gone, we could be friends again. Or at least pretend to be.
My mind replayed the lyrics to the Gordon Lightfoot song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It was a favourite on the radio up here, seeing how the Fitzgerald sank in 1975, not ten miles from Whitefish Bay.
“I think that’s only in November,” I said. “It’s August…there was no fella with a beard, was there?”
And on that note (clever, don’t you think, the musical reference?), I’ll sign off.
Thanks, Judy, this is terrific. Is there a statute of limitations, something like 100 years and lyrics become public domain? (I think Mick Jagger might last that long.)
Judith, yes it’s 100 years and the link in the blog takes you to song titles now in the public domaine. LOL on Mick!
Good piece.
My first novel was inspired by a line from “Mr. Tambourine Man:” “Too Dead For Dreaming.” I asked for permission to use that as the title but Dylan’s publishers (I’m sure he never saw the request) said no. They did say I could use the whole line in the book for $25 which I gladly paid. I changed the title to a line from a folksong SUCH A KILLING CRIME. When the book was published in Italy I simply paraphrased the line rather than try to pay the publisher for a translated version.
I remember another writer saying they set a mystery in the sixties and asked for permission to use Rolling Stone lyrics but the charge would have been more than her advance. She tried the Grateful Dead instead and the reply was “Cool. Send us a copy.”
Robert, titles cannot be copyrighted so…Dylan’s team were wrong to say no. As for asking, why not if it really works. Good on the Dead.
I wanted to use a phrase as the title. Not the same as using a title as a title.
Robert, gotcha.
In the song, “the lake it is said never gives up her dead when the gales of November come calling.” However, the water of Superior is so cold year round that any body, at any time of year, that sinks at depth, is unlikely to develop the gases that would make a corpse bloat and rise to the surface. I remember the wreck, and the song. Haunting.
And quoting lyrics really burns me. One episode of SHETLAND opens with Jimmy Perez quoting several lines (maybe even stanzas) of Mia Angelou’s poem Great Trees (which is an amazing and powerful work) at his mother’s funeral. It’s a strong scene, but there is no attribution in the dialogue or in the credits. I doubt Ann Cleeves would have made that mistake, and the production company should have known better. I hope they got nailed. Much as I love Jimmy Perez, he’s no Mia Angelou. Quoting the poem in that context in his gravelly voice with gravitas was profound enough. And some gentle ribbing from his pals about where the words came from would have worked well.
All good points, Mary. We have a camp on Lake Superior and while you can swim along the shores/bays in July and August it is never warmer than mid-high 60s. Our camp is just a few miles from where the Fitzgerald sank and I’ve been to the lookout a couple of times. I’m surprised at Shetland…though I do seem to recall knowing that somehow.
Thanks Judy. That was extremely helpful.
Thanks Carolanne!