The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat

Songwriter Forum => The Writing Process => Topic started by: Paul8847 on May 08, 2018, 11:31:52 PM

Title: I'm writing a book about songwriting
Post by: Paul8847 on May 08, 2018, 11:31:52 PM

Hi everyone I'm in the middle of writing a book about songwriting however I'm now at a chapter where I need to give a few examples on how certain songs work
And the best way to explain this is to use famous songs that everyone knows.
What I need to know is, am I allowed to mention famous songs as examples in a  book or do i need permission from the copyright owner.

Thanks in advance

Title: Re: I'm writing a book about songwriting
Post by: Davino on May 21, 2018, 03:46:01 AM

You don't need permission to show examples.

Title: Re: I'm writing a book about songwriting
Post by: CaliaMoko on May 21, 2018, 04:42:30 AM

In the United States, it's called "fair use" and in England it's called "fair dealing". You can do an internet search to get a good idea what is and isn't permissible when using copyrighted materials in a publication. It can get into a gray area, so it's always safest to get permission first, but if you're only referring to the works by title or using quite small snippets from them, you should be fine.

Title: Re: I'm writing a book about songwriting
Post by: Paul8847 on May 21, 2018, 11:56:22 PM

Thanks for that mate

Title: Re: I'm writing a book about songwriting
Post by: cowparsleyman on June 02, 2018, 06:08:48 PM

Good luck with that, really hope it works out for you

cpm

Title: Re: I'm writing a book about songwriting
Post by: Panenka on June 07, 2018, 08:39:00 AM

It is very good if you have enough time to explain to me.