Picture this: your character is heartbroken, slumped on the sofa, listening to Adele. It feels perfect to drop in a line of her lyrics to capture the mood, doesn’t it? Just one line… what harm could it do?
Well, here’s the awkward truth: quoting song lyrics in your book is a little like borrowing someone else’s toothbrush. You might get away with it once or twice, but legally speaking - it’s not yours, it’s theirs, and they’d rather you asked first.
What You Can Do (Safely, No Lawyers Involved)
- Mention the song title or artist: Go ahead and write, She put Adele on repeat until the neighbours knew every note. No permission needed.
- Describe the mood the song creates: You can write about how a character feels listening to a song, or how the melody swells, or how the beat drives them out onto the dancefloor. All yours.
- Allude to the lyrics without quoting them directly: Instead of writing the exact line, try something like, She was listening to that song about rolling in deep regrets, or, He hummed along to that chorus about being under an umbrella. Readers will get it - and you’ll stay in the safe zone.
What You Can’t Do (Without Permission)
- Quote the lyrics themselves. Even a single line. Unlike prose, songs are short, and a single line can be considered a “substantial portion.”
- Assume “fair use” will save you. Fair use is a defence in court, not a free pass. To rely on it, you’d first need to be sued. And believe me, music publishers have very expensive lawyers who quite enjoy testing the definition of “substantial.”
Why Lyrics Are Such a Legal Minefield
Books are long. Songs are short. So, while you might think quoting just one line is harmless, a court may decide that you’ve lifted a sizeable chunk of the song. Worse, your book is a commercial product - which counts against you in any fair use argument. Unless your use is educational, critical, or parody (and your book probably isn’t a law textbook or a comedy skit), you’re on shaky ground.
The Safer (and Smarter) Alternatives
- Be creative with allusion. Think Sting rhyming with “that book by Nabokov” instead of naming Lolita. Your readers are clever; give them a nudge and let them fill in the rest.
- Show don’t tell. Describe the effect of the song rather than the words: The song on the radio made her chest ache, every note dragging up memories she’d tried to bury.
- Invent a song. You’re a writer! Make up a lyric or band name. It saves hassle - and who knows, maybe your fictional song will take on a life of its own.
Bottom Line
Using someone else’s lyrics is a shortcut, and shortcuts usually come with a toll booth. If you really want to use them, you’ll need to get permission (and often pay for it). But if you’d rather keep your money in your pocket and avoid correspondence from Very Serious Lawyers, allude, describe, or invent instead.
In short: name the song, describe the mood, but resist the urge to belt out the chorus word-for-word in your prose. Save that for karaoke.