Topic: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

I'm in the middle of planning a Christian trilogy, and I would like a devout Catholic teenager to listen to Battle Hymn of the Republic by Lee Greenwood. What are the rules in a case like that? Do I need the artist's permission? The song is in the public domain. My reason for wanting to name this particular singer is to promote his version of the song. He sings the historical Civil War lyrics, not the modern version.

Thanks.
Dirk

Quote Post 1

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

I think you only have problems with lyrics and quotes when things are in copyright, but to be sure about Lee Greenwood wanting to be in the novel, why not find out if he has any web presence and ask him?

Quote Post 2

3 Reply by Malcolm Reynolds (edited by Malcolm Reynolds 2018-04-01 08:00:33)

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

Norm d'Plume wrote:

I'm in the middle of planning a Christian trilogy, and I would like a devout Catholic teenager to listen to Battle Hymn of the Republic by Lee Greenwood. What are the rules in a case like that? Do I need the artist's permission? The song is in the public domain. My reason for wanting to name this particular singer is to promote his version of the song. He sings the historical Civil War lyrics, not the modern version.

Thanks.
Dirk

Type:  ”Can I reference a real song artist in a work of fiction” into Google.  You’ll get your answer in less time than it took to write your post.  The Internet.  It’s magic.
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Quote Post 3

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

It seems that song is from the 17th century. Surely copyright has lapsed on it

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5 Reply by Norm d'Plume (edited by Norm d'Plume 2018-04-01 16:21:59)

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

The song is in the public domain. I was asking if I could mention the name of the singer. According to numerous web sites, I can, but that won't stop someone from taking frivolous legal action if they don't want to be mentioned. I'll mention the song but not the singer.

Thank you, Malcolm. I tell other people to use Google, but I often forget to do so.

Quote Post 5

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

if we all just used Google, there'd be nothing to talk about here...

Quote Post 6

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

btw he's on Twitter, you could always ask him!
https://twitter.com/TheLeeGreenwood

Quote Post 7

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

Thank you, Lynne.

Quote Post 8

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

Norm d'Plume wrote:

Thank you, Lynne.

you are very welcome.
I found him on Google big_smile big_smile

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Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

Norm d'Plume wrote:

Thank you, Lynne.

Yeah, it is mostly the lyrics that are the issue even in truncated versions.

I think you would be good to go on this one.

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Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

Norm,

I'm a professional composer/songwriter with over 1,000 songs copyrighted. I have songs in movies, commercials and the like, so I'm pretty familiar with all the copyright issues - although I am not an attorney. You can reference the singer/songwriter/composer as you will - we always enjoy free publicity! As previously mentioned, lyrics are a whole different animal - have to be VERY careful about that. Good luck with your trilogy!

Alan

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Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

Sideman wrote:

Norm,

I'm a professional composer/songwriter with over 1,000 songs copyrighted. I have songs in movies, commercials and the like, so I'm pretty familiar with all the copyright issues - although I am not an attorney. You can reference the singer/songwriter/composer as you will - we always enjoy free publicity! As previously mentioned, lyrics are a whole different animal - have to be VERY careful about that. Good luck with your trilogy!

Alan

Alan--
Can you use song titles in your work as long as you don't use the lyrics?

smile

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13 Reply by vern (edited by vern 2018-04-25 22:26:45)

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

Titles can't be copyrighted. Take care. Vern

Edited for PS: Trademark is a different animal.

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Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

Hi Dags,

What Vern said.

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15 Reply by j p lundstrom (edited by j p lundstrom 2018-04-26 14:57:43)

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

This topic comes up periodically. It's always good to have the latest information. After a similar discussion, I used the titles of country and rockabilly songs as chapter titles in the Adventures of a Young Girl. Nobody even noticed, much less complained.

As a reader, I don't know what's worse--reading through somebody else's (already familiar) lyrics because an author thought they were needed, or wading through (usually bad) 'lyrics' written by the author. Go with the titles (and names, if you must). Lyrics don't advance your story. It's as simple as that.  JP

PS--I just thought of something. It's possible to set the scene by saying something like "The girls were screaming for Frank Sinatra (or Elvis Presley, or Michael Jackson, or Justin Bieber)."

Quote Post 15

Re: Can I reference a real song and artist in a work of fiction?

j p lundstrom wrote:

This topic comes up periodically. It's always good to have the latest information. After a similar discussion, I used the titles of country and rockabilly songs as chapter titles in the Adventures of a Young Girl. Nobody even noticed, much less complained.

As a reader, I don't know what's worse--reading through somebody else's (already familiar) lyrics because an author thought they were needed, or wading through (usually bad) 'lyrics' written by the author. Go with the titles (and names, if you must). Lyrics don't advance your story. It's as simple as that.  JP

PS--I just thought of something. It's possible to set the scene by saying something like "The girls were screaming for Frank Sinatra (or Elvis Presley, or Michael Jackson, or Justin Bieber)."

Jp--
I ran into this in my flash fiction piece, Grace After, Grace Before. I wanted to use a Prince song to illustrate someone playing an air guitar. I just used Princes' name and the title of the song and then described my character's reaction to it. I agree with you, nothing is more boring than reading through song lyrics, and the way I solved it was not 'telling' but 'showing.' 

smile

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