August 27, 2008
Can I Publish Song Lyrics? No, But, Here's What You Can Do...
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Hello Angela!
In (my book), I have quoted lyrics from different songs, specifically from "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day. Do I have to get permission from Green Day to put this in there?
Thank you for your time and consideration,
D
You can publish the name of a song, but not lyrics without permission. And, authors may be charged quite a bit of money for permission to publish song lyrics. So, just naming the song is a better idea. Publishing the name of a song is often enough to get readers to start humming it anyway.
For example, you could say this:
She opened her eyes, which were wet with tears, and sang weakly about summer and September ending...
Writes Digest ran a recent article on this topic HERE.