How much of an artist's lyrics can I use before I am in violation of
the law for say...infringement?

Hello mandito--

I have carefully researched your question and have your answer. I have
significant experience working with copyright laws.

To conduct this research I first searched the following terms: u.s.
patent and trademark office

You may view the results of my search online. The link is
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=u.s.+patent+and+trademark+office

You may visit the U.S. Patent and Trademark web site online. The link
is http://www.uspto.gov/

According the the USPT, song lyrics without the attached music fall
under the "literary" copyright category. You may view the definitions
as pertaining to copyright law online. The link is
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/chapter01.pdf

You may view the full set of U.S. Copyright laws online. The link is
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/

Depending on what you're using the lyrics for, you may be in violation
of copyright infringement laws. The copyright rules explicitly state
that you may not use any lyrics from a song that's owned by someone
else without expressed permission. No specific number of lyrics is
provided in the law.

Obviously, you are safe using one or two of the words. It's when you
take an entire phrase or section of a song's lyrics and insert them in
your own literary work as if they're your own work... that's when
there's a problem.

If you have no intention of profiting off the work you're creating,
you likely would be fine, quoting the lyrics. News reporters,
teachers, and the like may quote song lyrics without infringing on the
copyright rules.

This is called "fair use." To determine whether your use would fall
under Fair Use rules, consult the copyright laws:

"Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use
of a copyrighted
work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or
by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as
criticism, comment,
news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),
scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining
whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors
to be considered shall include?
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a
commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to
the copyrighted
work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of
the copyrighted work."

You may view this on page 18 of the link
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/chapter01.pdf

If you are planning on using a phrase or refrain from a previously
published set of song lyrics, you should contact the owner of the
lyrics to ask permission. Have them sign a brief release form that
gives you expressed written permission to use the lyrics.

I hope this helps. If you need further information or clarification,
please don't hesitate to click on the "clarify" button.

Thanks,

darrel-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by mandito-ga on 24 Jan 2004 12:43 PST

Allow me to get this straight: If I were to begin a sale of hats with
lyrics of famous singers even while giving them credit and selling the
hats, I would be violating a law. Correct? Please see below example.
 
Example (This is printed on hats that I am selling): 
"Won't the real Slim Shady please stand up.." -Eminem (CD: The Show, Year: 2003)
or
"I have a dream" -Martin Luther King

Thank you.

---

Clarification of Answer by darrel-ga on 24 Jan 2004 12:53 PST

Yes, you would be in violation of copyright rules by printing those
lyrics on a hat, if you would be selling it or be doing anything with
it other than using it for at-home use. To achieve permission to use
the lyrics, you may wish to contact the owner of the lyrics, which my
guess would be Slim Shady's recording company.

Regarding "I have a dream." This is of particular interest. The family
of MLK over the years has made it very clear they expect those who
quote or use clips of MLK's speeches to gain permission before using
the quotes or audio or video clips. Again, if you're simply using the
quote on a hat for at-home purposes, it wouldn't be a problem. It's
when you try to profit off the words someone else owns, that's when it
becomes problematic in the eyes of the Copyright laws.

darrel-ga

Thank you. Truly excellent services...24Hours? You answered in less
than one. Thank you.

Dear mandito,

There is no specific measure of how much of a given song's lyrics you
can use without triggering copyright. Unfortunately, that has to be
measured on a case-by-case basis.

Your intentions in using the lyrics may matter less than the effect on
the market value of the work. For example, you may have no intention
of profiting from the work you create, but a court is less likely to
look at your intentions than at the actual effect on the market value
of the original work. Also, "fair use" is more likely to apply when
you are using portions of the original lyrics which are not
immediately associated with the original song, as opposed to excerpts
which immediately evoke the original work. (It is nonetheless true
that if you have a non-commercial or non-profit motive such as an
educational purpose or advancing news coverage of an important issue,
your use stands a greater chance of being declared a "fair use".)

In terms of using one or two word exerpts, as darrel suggests, it will
be a rare situation where any one or two word combination is subject
to copyright protection. If the one or two word combination is truly
original (which is unlikely to occur unless at least one of the words
is newly coined - e.g, 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious') copyright
may apply. But otherwise it is unlikely that such a tiny excerpt would
be sufficiently unique to be subject to copyright protection, or, for
that matter, to put anybody in mind of the original work.

Finally, it is likely that any popular music lyrics are the subject of
a registered copyright, and thus that statutory damages might apply in
the event of an infringement.