Write Your Own Damn Words

Posted by Guest Writer in Rants & Raves      5 comments

May
19

So you want to quote song lyrics in your book?

If you were a friend, this conversation would go differently, but I believe the outcome would remain the same as if you were my worst enemy:  You would ignore everything I write here.

First, a little known fact (apparently):  If you quote any recognizable portion of a copyrighted composition, then you need to obtain permission from the copyright owners or their representatives (not the songwriters themselves and absolutely not the performers).  Even if that recognizable portion is just a part of a single line.

Before you even think of uttering the words “fair use,” please be advised that fair use is a defense one can claim when one has been brought up on charges of copyright infringement and that the law is set up to protect the copyright owners.

And besides, what kind of an asshole hack of a writer would want to use someone else’s work without permission and without compensating the person?  It’s called respect.

But of course, all of this is simply concerned with going about requesting permission in the proper manner.  The real problem I have with writers using song lyrics in their books is the fact that it is usually completely unnecessary.  Well, perhaps not unnecessary to the hack whose writing cannot stand on its own and who decides to use famous lyrics as chapter epigraphs.

And before anyone brings up the fact that Stephen King did just this sort of thing with The Stand, let me just point out that the minimum fee for quoting lyrics in a book is $100.00–per song–and that fee only grants permission for a very, very limited number of copies.  You want permission for an unlimited number of copies?  You will pay around $10,000.00 per song.  Do you have that sort of money?

But this is all getting away from the very thing I am most bothered by:  You are a writer.  Perhaps you spent tons of money on your education (at a private school where they had no student-teaching opportunities and so now you’re stuck licensing music for a living), or perhaps you’ve simply read and worked and honed your craft by spending years writing and re-writing and discarding and despairing; however you arrived at the point where you are now, you call yourself a writer and yet, when it comes to it you’re going to use the words from a U2 song to convey a characters feelings.  Write your own goddamn words!

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule and situations one can never foresee.  John Irving’s newest novel contains an excerpt from a Neil Young song.  Does this make him a hack?  Perhaps not, but keep in mind it is the only song quoted in the book, it is quoted in the body of the text only a single time and John Irving paid a hefty fee without the slightest argument or hesitation.  He could afford it.

So, you want to quote lyrics in your book?  Why?

Write your own words and spend that money on a really nice bottle of Scotch.

Oh and by the way, U2?  Don’t even think about it. Instant denial.

Rigadoon has a master’s degree in writing from one of the top private schools in the country and lives in the Midwest where he attempts to pay off his student loans working in a field which has very little to do with writing.  He’s very angry but also very tired; therefore, although he occasionally barks loudly he soon falls back asleep.

Discussion question: Have you used song lyrics in your published work, or have tried but ran into a copyrighting roadblock? Tell us about it below.