Can you quote song lyrics or other books in your book?

Memoirists open chapters with lyrics, critics quote the novels they review, and biographers lean on letters and interviews. Each quotation is a small rights question, and a manuscript can hold dozens of them. Our page on literary and author publishing deals explains how a publishing agreement allocates rights and responsibilities between you and your publisher. This page covers the borrowing side: when you can quote without asking, when you should ask, and how to ask so the answer covers every edition.

How to clear a quotation, step by step

1. Ask whether the material is protected at all. Titles, names, slogans and other short phrases are not protected by copyright, and the Copyright Office will not register them "even if the word or short phrase is novel, distinctive, or lends itself to a play on words" (Circular 33). Ideas and facts are free too (17 U.S.C. 102(b)), as are works of the U.S. Government (17 U.S.C. 105).
2. Check whether the work is still in copyright. Older works may have entered the public domain; our page on when old material is in the public domain walks through the term rules.
3. Find the owner. Copyright Office records cataloged from January 1, 1978 to the present are searchable on the Office's website. If you ask the Office to search for you, the fee is $200 per hour with a two-hour minimum (37 CFR 201.3, as of October 4, 2026). Circular 22 warns that a search "cannot be regarded as conclusive in all cases."
4. Weigh fair use. Apply the four factors in 17 U.S.C. 107 to each quotation separately, using the Copyright Office's Fair Use Index to see how courts have treated similar uses.
5. Request permission where fair use is doubtful. The Copyright Office's own guidance is that "in cases of doubt, the Copyright Office recommends that permission be obtained." Start early, because each owner sets its own pace. Our post on five ways to legally use copyrighted works compares licensing with the other routes.
6. Log and file what you receive. Keep each signed permission with the quotation it covers, the credit line required, and any fee paid, so your publisher, distributor or a future buyer of the rights can see the chain.

Why are song lyrics harder to quote than prose?

Lyrics are part of the song. The Copyright Act protects "musical works, including any accompanying words" (17 U.S.C. 102(a)(2)), and Circular 50 explains that a registration for a musical composition covers "the music and lyrics, if any." So the owner you need is the owner of the composition, meaning the songwriters or the music publishers they assigned rights to, not the record label that owns a particular recording.

Three of the fair use factors also tend to cut against lyric quotations. Songs are creative works, and the Copyright Office's summary of the second factor says using "a more creative or imaginative work (such as a novel, movie, or song) is less likely to support a claim of a fair use." Songs are short, so the third factor, which measures the portion used "in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole," treats four lines of a song very differently from four lines of a 400-page novel. And a memorable chorus can be what the Office calls the "heart" of the work, where even a small amount may not be fair.

The compulsory license that lets artists record cover songs does not help an author. Section 115 covers making and distributing phonorecords of a song, not printing its words in a book; our page on when you need permission to release a cover song explains that license. The song's title, by contrast, is free to mention, and lyrics from songs whose term has run are free to print; our guide to how long a song's copyright lasts explains how to tell.

What did the Supreme Court's Warhol decision change for authors?

In Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, 598 U.S. 508 (2023), the Court addressed only the first factor, the purpose and character of the use. It held that this factor asks whether a use "has a further purpose or different character, which is a matter of degree," and that the difference "must be balanced against the commercial nature of the use." Adding a new meaning or message is relevant, but it is "not, without more, dispositive."

The rule that matters most to authors is this one: "If an original work and a secondary use share the same or highly similar purposes, and the secondary use is of a commercial nature, the first factor is likely to weigh against fair use, absent some other justification for copying." The Court gave a narrower justification as an example: commentary or criticism that targets an original "may have compelling reason to 'conjure up' the original by borrowing from it."

The opinion used book reviews to illustrate. A critical review, it said, serves a different purpose than the book, and each quoted passage likely serves a different purpose "as an object of criticism." But it added that "Even book reviews are not entitled to a presumption of fairness," and a court must consider each use. For a commercially published book, then, a lyric used to set a mood arguably shares much of the song's own expressive purpose, while a lyric quoted so you can take it apart has a stronger reason to be there.

What should a permission request ask for?

A permission is a nonexclusive license, so the law does not require it to be in writing; only transfers of ownership need a signed writing (17 U.S.C. 204(a)), as our page on whether a copyright license must be in writing explains. In practice, a signed letter or email is the only reliable way to prove what was granted.

Translations deserve special care, because a foreign publisher will reprint your quotations in its edition. Our page on who owns the translation of your book explains how those deals are structured.

What changes the answer

• Your purpose. Criticism, comment, scholarship and research are listed in section 107, and Warhol makes targeting the original the clearest justification. Decoration and mood are not on the list.
• How much, and which part. The Fair Use Index notes that "using even a small amount" was not fair where it was the "heart" of the work, and that there is "no formula" for a safe percentage or number of words.
• Whether the source is published. Section 107 says unpublished status "shall not itself bar a finding of fair use," but the Office's summary says use of an unpublished work "is less likely to be considered fair."
• The effect on the market. The fourth factor asks whether your use would displace sales of the original, or could cause substantial harm to its market if uses like yours became widespread.
• Where the book is sold. Fair use is U.S. law. WIPO's summary of the Berne Convention lists quotations among the "free uses" members may allow under Article 10, but each country applies its own rules; our page on whether a U.S. license covers other countries explains why territory matters.

A worked example

Common mistakes

• Relying on a word count. The Copyright Office says "There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work."
• Treating credit as permission. Attribution is good practice, but it is not one of the four factors in section 107 and does not license the use.
• Asking the record label for lyrics. A label may own a recording, but the composition, including the words, belongs to the songwriters or the publishers they assigned it to.
• Clearing print only. An audiobook or translation released later needs coverage, and asking after publication leaves you negotiating with the book already in print.
• Assuming lyrics online are free to reuse. Lyrics posted on a website are still protected, and whatever arrangement lets that site display them does not cover your book.
• Leaving permissions to the last week. Owners can be slow or silent, and silence is not consent.

What to do this week

1. Build a permissions log: every quotation, its source, word count, and where it appears in the manuscript.
2. Mark items that need no permission: titles, facts, U.S. Government text, and works confirmed to be in the public domain.
3. For each remaining item, write one sentence on why you quote it; cut or shorten anything that is decoration only.
4. Identify the owner of each item that still needs clearing, starting with lyrics.
5. Send written requests that cover every format, territory and language you plan to publish in.
6. Read your publishing agreement for who must clear permissions and who pays, and raise gaps before delivery.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a song title as the title of my book?

Copyright does not protect titles, so the Copyright Office will not register one. Trademark law is a separate question, mainly for series names; our page on whether you can trademark a title covers it.

Is paraphrasing a lyric safer than quoting it?

Describing what a song is about uses its ideas, which copyright does not protect. A close paraphrase that keeps the song's distinctive wording or structure can still copy protected expression, so describe the song in your own words rather than rewording it line by line.

What if the owner never answers my request?

No answer is not permission. Your choices are to cut the quotation, shorten it to what your commentary truly needs and rely on a considered fair use analysis, or replace it with material you can clear.

Does self-publishing change the rules?

No. The same statute applies to a self-published book and a traditionally published one, but without a publisher's permissions staff, the work and the risk of clearing quotations sit with you.

Can a documentary filmmaker's fair use reasoning apply to my book?

The four factors are the same for every medium, and the Fair Use Index lets you search court decisions by category of work. Our page on using clips and photos in a documentary applies them to film, which can help you see how purpose and amount interact.

What happens if an owner objects after the book is out?

An objection may arrive as a demand letter; our page on what to do when you receive an infringement letter walks through the response. If the work was registered in time (17 U.S.C. 412), statutory damages run from $750 to $30,000 per work, and up to $150,000 if the infringement is willful (17 U.S.C. 504(c)). If a claim reaches court, our page on copyright lawsuits in Atlanta federal court explains the process.

Do my co-author and I both need to sign permission requests?

Either of you can request permission, but the grant should name the book and both authors so it covers the work as a whole. Our page on who owns a co-authored book explains how joint authors share rights.

Zala IP Law reviews publishing agreements and advises authors on the rights questions inside them, and Shreepal J. Zala practices federal intellectual property and entertainment law nationally. If your manuscript quotes lyrics or other works and the delivery date is close, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701.