If you are writing a novel or a short story, you may find situations in which you would like to
Q. Can I mention the title of a song in my work?
A. You can mention the title of a song, or the title of anything else, for free, without asking permission.
Copyright law is based on the concept that unique authorship works should be protected as the intellectual property of the author. However, it is important to note that to benefit from this protection, the work in question must be only and has original authorship.
However, song titles are considered neither of these things and therefore are not protected by copyright. In fact, in its publication “Copyright Basics,” the US Copyright Office specifically excludes “Titles, names, [and] Short phrases “to be eligible for copyright protection.
Q. Can I quote the lyrics of someone else’s songs in my work?
A. Except in certain cases, such as fair use, you will need permission before reproducing someone else’s copyrighted material.
In most cases, using someone else’s work without permission is considered copyright infringement. However, there are exceptions to this: Fair use.
There is no hard and fast rule that establishes what is and what is not considered fair use. Instead, courts typically consider four factors:
- The purpose and nature of the use.
- The nature of the copyrighted material
- The amount of work used, relative to the entire job.
- The effect of the use of the work may have on the market or the value of the original work.
Copyright provides some explicit purposes that qualify as fair use: comment, criticism, and criticism, for example. (This is how book reviews are allowed under copyright law, for example.) But there are other uses that are not specifically mentioned here, and whether or not their use is considered fair use, at the end of the day, must be decided by the courts. – the last place you want to end up.
Before you get to that point, it’s a good idea to look at the other factors so that you can get an idea of whether or not their use could be considered fair.
Regarding the lyrics of the songs, also note the factor related to the amount of work used. While there is no set percentage of the material that will be allowed in fair use, consider that citing just two lines will be a more favorable use than playing the entire song.
In this regard, the last factor can also help you determine whether or not its use could lead to a problem. The further the market for your new work is from the original market for the original song, the greater your chances.
Here is an example. If you are writing a fictional novel and your protagonist walks into a coffee shop, some lines of a song may be playing on the radio. Mentioning these lines helps to locate your character in a certain period of time; It is not likely to detract from the original market or potential value of the song in the way that, say, you play the entire song in a Songs of the century collection could.