Quoting song lyrics...what's the law?

Just on the off chance that there's still anybody here interested in the
book biz, and not cheap web hosting, hot smutty videos, or how to make a
million playing the UK lottery...

....I'm wondering about the laws regarding quoting previously published
works, like snippets of songs, within a book. If the source is clearly
cited within the text, do you still need permission to refer to them?

Any help sincerely appreciated. Thanks,

Rusty

In article <vNMyh.22153$yx6.18781@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
"Rusty Wilson" <RustyWilson3 RemoveThis @Earthlink.net> wrote:

> Just on the off chance that there's still anybody here interested in the
> book biz, and not cheap web hosting, hot smutty videos, or how to make a
> million playing the UK lottery...
>
> ...I'm wondering about the laws regarding quoting previously published
> works, like snippets of songs, within a book. If the source is clearly
> cited within the text, do you still need permission to refer to them?
>
> Any help sincerely appreciated. Thanks,
>
> Rusty

There are several highly professional book people
(authors/publishers/designers) who frequent this list. We tend to
respond only to questions related to book publishing.

Quoting previously published material without specific, written
permission is highly risky. There is a "fair use" exemption, but it's
rather vague and is decided (by the courts) on a case by case basis. To
get such a decision usually requires defending yourself against an
infringement suit with lawyers at $300 per hour and up... even if you
"win" you lose.

Snippets of songs or poems (other than the published title) are often
subject to strict control and must have permission. Modest (40 to 200
words) quotes of text material _might_ pass by without permission -- but
that depends, in part, on the generosity of the copyright owner in
enforcing their copyright. (There is no court decision establishing this
"guideline" but many large publishers use this in their instructionis to
authors. Of course, large publishers have lawyers on staff to protect
their interests.

So, the advice is to get permission, if you can. Otherwise, rewrite your
material to remove the "snipit"...

One example is Confessions of a Dope Dealer by Sheldon Norberg. The
story line included a segment where the author had been a "deadhead"
following the Grateful Dead from one concert venue to the next. The
author wanted to quote a phrase from one of the Greatful Dead's songs...
but, upon application for permission, the lawyers handling such matters
responded that "The Greatful Dead do not wish to be associated with drug
use" so the permission was denied. (You can consider the irony of this
lawyer's statement.) The work around was to remove the reference to the
specific phrase within the tune, and simply say, ... recalling the words
to "Dark Star", ... Since many who were likely to read the book would
have known the words, the reference was preserved without violating the
need for a permission.

As I alluded earlier, this is often a matter of how diligent a copyright
holder might be in enforcing their copyright. You may have heard of many
cases where no permission was received and "no problem" occurred for the
author. However, that's more a matter of good luck rather than good
management. A copyright holder may not become aware of an infringement
for _years_ ... but may sue for such infringement at anytime they become
aware of it. The damages are _substantial_ and can require you to
dispose of your complete inventory, plus pay all profits to the
copyright holder ... plus "statutory damages" (an amount set by a court)
and all the legal costs of the copyright holder. So, if I have made
myself clear, the downside of quoting material without permission is
severe and substantial.

You may not agree with this situation (I know I don't) but this is the
way the copyright law is currently written. If you object to it, please
write your congressional representatives and senators.