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This is nearly ready to go on Amazon Kindle. Anyone got any advice on acknowledgements? Some song lyrics are quoted for example. Do I need to acknowledge these? Anything else I should look out for? Dinnae want to get myself into a legal fankle before I've even started! 😂

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17 minutes ago, slasher said:

This is nearly ready to go on Amazon Kindle. Anyone got any advice on acknowledgements? Some song lyrics are quoted for example. Do I need to acknowledge these? Anything else I should look out for? Dinnae want to get myself into a legal fankle before I've even started! 😂

For Acknowledgements tip a nod to any lyricists lyrics you have quoted where possible. Also acknowledge those to have helped along the way and leave an apology open to anyone you have forgot to mention. That way it covers you.

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1 hour ago, Catchart Circle said:

You need permission to reproduce any song lyrics.

Most probably won't bother sueing but some will regardless of whether you have acknowledged the artist or song writer.

Some bigger names may ask for a fee but generally a polite request will be sufficient.

 

They would only sue if the writer is trying to use lyrics for another song. I don't think slasher is doing that here but just quoting lyrics.

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You need to request permission to use lyrics. Permission is likely to be granted. However, you will likely be quoted a substantial fee. For example, I wanted to use a line from a song by The Band. No problem, as long as I coughed up £250.

My publisher wouldn't touch lyrics unless I had permission. 

Edited by Stapes
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1 hour ago, Caledonian Craig said:

They would only sue if the writer is trying to use lyrics for another song. I don't think slasher is doing that here but just quoting lyrics.

Sorry but that is wrong. Stapes is quite correct, you do need permission to quote from a song.

My last publisher issues a set of guidelines covering such matters. I think you will find that the signed publishing contract absolves the publishing company of responsibility and any legal action would be directed solely at the author.

The issue is purely a matter for the writer who is assumed to have obtained the necessary permission when submitting the completed manuscript. It is not something a publisher would deal with.

Clearly Slasher will not be dealing with a publisher and I don't want to sound like I am scaremongering.

In all likelihood you may very well get away with it, but if the copyright holder is made aware be prepared for the consequences.

Edited by Catchart Circle
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9 hours ago, Stapes said:

You need to request permission to use lyrics. Permission is likely to be granted. However, you will likely be quoted a substantial fee. For example, I wanted to use a line from a song by The Band. No problem, as long as I coughed up £250.

My publisher wouldn't touch lyrics unless I had permission. 

Feck! Really? 

I'm going to have to look into this. The songwriter in question is Don McLean but I wouldn't even have a clue how to go about this. I don't want to, but I might have to look at cutting the quotes altogether if this is the case 😔

Thanks lads! 👍

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Actually just had a thought. What if you accidentally on purpose misquote some of the lyrics, or say added an expletive. Would that negate the need for permission? I could chop it but it's a kind of vital scene so I'd rather not if I can get away with it 😉

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5 hours ago, slasher said:

Feck! Really? 

I'm going to have to look into this. The songwriter in question is Don McLean but I wouldn't even have a clue how to go about this. I don't want to, but I might have to look at cutting the quotes altogether if this is the case 😔

Thanks lads! 👍

That's what I had to do. I had about 20 Springsteen lyrics and cut them all after the quote from the Band lyric. 

 

Would be worth asking though. Just find out the publisher from a CD. My feeling is that it's a blanket amount, the same for Springsteen as an obscure band with one album. 

Edited by Stapes
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19 minutes ago, Stapes said:

That's what I had to do. I had about 20 Springsteen lyrics and cut them all after the quote from the Band lyric. 

 

Would be worth asking though. Just find out the publisher from a CD. My feeling is that it's a blanket amount, the same for Springsteen as an obscure band with one album. 

I've been doing a bit of digging on this today. The publisher is Universal but see if it's only one line does it not come under the terms of 'fair use?' My original quote was 3 lines long but I could cut to one if that is the case? 

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I have only ever used two song lyrics, from different artists, in books.

I was able to contact both the artists directly and both were fine as long as an acknowledgement was given. They wished me luck and charged no fee.

Had I gone through their agents or music publisher I strongly suspect there would have been a fee involved for any reproduction.

Like I said there is a good chance a kindle would go undetected.

Having said that if the song in question is American Pie this is  VERY high profile and lawyers for the copyright owners may very well be monitoring the internet for unauthorised use.

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I'm pretty sure the studio that brought out the American Pie movie had to pay Don McLean a decent sum just to use the phrase as he has it trademarked.  Copyright law is amazingly complex and it's probably not worth the risk hoping you'll just get away with it.

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Of course breaching copyright does run the risk of being sued. However, unless your book is going to be a best seller and sell hundreds of thousands of books (most unlikely - no offence slasher) then for what the company would get from suing you it would cost them more bringing the case to court. In effect no financial benefit to them. If you were going to have a best seller then it is a different matter as they most definitely sue for portion of royalties or such-like.

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