What&#39;s the difference in copyrights between a book and lyrics of a song?
<p>As far as I understand copyrights, both books and lyrics of a song are protected in the same way. <strong>Are they really?</strong> It's much easier to find whole lyrics of a song than it is to find whole text of a book. And if you reach a book online, it will be on some shady websites only. How come? What's the legal difference?</p>

<p>There is no legal difference, really. There may well be a practical difference. It is much easier to steal a wheelbarrow than it is a 20-foot section of 2-foot wide iron conduit. But doing either is theft, and the legalities are pretty much the same.</p>
<p>It is indeed easier to copy a song lyric, or a poem, then the text of a novel, say. But if done without permission, either would be copyright infringement, unless of course an <em><strong>exception to copyright</strong></em>, such as <em><strong>fair use</strong></em> (in the US) or <em><strong>fair dealing</strong></em> (in the UK and some other countries) applies. (Or unless the text is out of copyright. One may lawfully copy Shakespeare, for example. Or Mark Twain.)</p>

copyright music