# A question about the "Speak To Me Only In Song Lyrics" thread **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 8, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356 "2014-06-08T22:01:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/1 "2014-06-08T22:01:24Z")
Are there any rules about the number of lines of lyrics quoted in it? I like the thread’s concept, but number of posts with 1/4, 1/2 and more of the song contained is annoying. I’d much rather see 2-8 lines quoted, and if I don’t know the song, search to see what it is. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/2 "2014-06-09T00:15:19Z")
> [@donkeyoatey](#): > > Are there any rules about the number of lines of lyrics quoted in it? > I like the thread’s concept, but number of posts with 1/4, 1/2 and more of the song contained is annoying. I’d much rather see 2-8 lines quoted, and if I don’t know the song, search to see what it is. The “fair usage” laws are not specific, but quoting 1/4 or 1/2 of the song should probably be discouraged by the mods. ADDED: However, I’ve done some searching and haven’t found the thread you’re talking about… ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/3 "2014-06-09T00:50:31Z")
Sorry C K , it’s in the game room. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/4 "2014-06-09T01:35:28Z")
It’s [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=691117). Yeah, **Dex** addressed this. I’d report any post that has excessive lyrics as I know the SDMB is very zealous about respecting copyrights. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/5 "2014-06-09T01:39:06Z")
And yeah, posting the complete lyrics to “Stairway to Heaven” is a bit over the top. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/6 "2014-06-09T02:38:19Z")
That thread was just snippets for the longest time, now it’s entire verses and more. To be fair, the entire verses and more are attributed to the artist, but the thread has lost it’s charm, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/7 "2014-06-09T07:19:44Z")
I’ve closed the topic for now pending a discussion among staff. The posting of full songs/lyrics looks (to me) like it’s been going on for the last 1-2 pages, at least. Granted some are just snippets, lines, or verses…the majority seems to be full lyrics, which is the no-no. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/8 "2014-06-09T08:04:23Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > The “fair usage” laws are not specific, but quoting 1/4 or 1/2 of the song should probably be discouraged by the mods. How about tweet rules? You can post up to 140 characters. It’s not a legal standard but it will create a familiar limit on how long an extract can be. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/9 "2014-06-09T10:44:34Z")
Not that it’s any of my business, but I’d be interested to know how many complaints the SDMB has ever received from actual lyric copyright owners, not just in that thread but also from elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/10 "2014-06-09T11:00:35Z")
First, ah, I bet I was searching on “in the last year” based on title, and so it didn’t show up because it was started ages ago. Thanks for the link, **cochrane.** > [@buddha\_david](#): > > Not that it’s any of my business, but I’d be interested to know how many complaints the SDMB has ever received from actual lyric copyright owners, not just in that thread but also from elsewhere. A few, not from song lyric copyright owners but from other stuff. It doesn’t take many. And our basic philosophy is: we don’t want other sites quoting from us without permission, therefore we don’t want to allow overly-lengthy quotes here. Treat others the way you want them to treat you, kinda thing. It’s not the legal issue, it’s the issue of respecting authors and artists and their work. Meanwhile, mods are discussin’ what to do. Thanks for calling it to our attention. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-speak-to-me-only-in-song-lyrics-thread/690356/11 "2014-06-09T13:15:29Z")
I wonder how many (legal!) downloads of songs that thread has led to (which is why I tried a few months ago to link to Youtube videos)-I’d bet that it was pretty significant. Any publicity is good publicity, right?