I want to enter a short fiction contest in a local alternative weekly. Two of my stories that I’m considering for submission have lines from songs in them. One uses parts of popular songs from the 60’s and 70’s. Another uses the entire theme song from an old TV show. Do I need to get permission to use these lyrics? If so, how do I go about it?
I appreciate any advice you can give me…ASAP, please!
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Copyright information does not exactly address my question, but it’s useful advice.
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It’d be better if you got permission. You’re talking plagiarism here, not copywrite. A few lines from an old song may come under the “fair use” exception, but an entire theme song is something else. Then it depends how old the shows were. Copywrite protection only lasts so long, but can be renewed (21 years, I think). You can get permission from the network that they were on. I’m sure the network is the entity that copywrited them, since they published them.
Generally, as long as you acknowledge the source, i.e., give credit to the original author, and do not claim the works cited are your own you are on firm legal ground.
Unless you end up making vast profits, in which case the authors will hound you to the ends of the Earth.
For using just a few lines of a song, you should be fine, since that falls pretty squarely under a “fair use”. In order for a use of copyrighted material to be considered a fair use, a court has to consider four things:
1.the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2.the nature of the copyrighted work;
3.the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4.the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
Odds are that even using an entire song in your story would be considered a “fair use”, because entering a small local contest likely wouldn’t hurt the market for that song much, if at all. However, as a matter of courtesy, you should contact the song’s copyright holder and ask to use it. Probably the best place to begin for that is to contact the recording company that put out the song. For a TV theme that isn’t a song otherwise, start with the TV network; if they don’t actually hold the copyright, they should be able to point you in the right direction. Make sure also that you properly credit the works you’re quoting.
Hey, know what else? I’m not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice!
Jesus Con Queso, in my attempts to reconfigger that, I put a space between the =, and ,well, here’s the &&&***@@@%!!! BMI site. Damn. I’m gonna go listen to some music aand chill a bit.
Fair use doesn’t apply to songs. If you’re going to quote any of the lyrics, you need permission from the songwriter.
If you want to know who to ask, you could contact ASCAP, but they’ll insist you pay. Otherwise, you’ll have to find out the name of the composor and track them down. Some are quite happy to grant permission; others want more money than the story is worth.
Cite, please? I’m wondering why you state song lyrics are treated differently from other written works. If what you say is true, a lot of unauthorized parody acts out there should be getting their pants sued off. Satire is a form of fair use and often uses parts of the target song. Copyright violation cases against parody artists are rarely successful.