What are the copyright requirements/restrictions to quote song lyrics and other copyrighted works in a novel?
<p>I am working on writing a story (not actually sure if it will qualify as a novel or short story or what-have-you, but that's not relevant)</p>
<p>In the story, a character is described to vividly remember the lyrics of a favorite song and &quot;listens&quot; to the song in his mind. the way it is written, the lyrics are quoted in italics interspersed with the actual story.</p>
<p>I also would like to potentially make a quote of a song at the beginning of each chapter; for example:</p>
<p>&quot;I bet a million to one, that there's a face in the fire that burns in the sun&quot; would be quoted from Jan hammer's &quot;Seeds Of Life&quot; in the header of chapter 1, and I would like to quote a &quot;One Eskimo&quot; song (astronauts) as chapter 2's header, which takes place in space from another character's viewpoint.</p>
<p>My question here is; what will I need to do to ensure that I remain within legal boundaries in regards to copyright law?</p>
<p>I am willing to potentially purchase licenses if needed or just re-write my story to exclude the quotes, but I am wondering if perhaps this usage of song lyrics falls under fair use, since in a way I am transforming the songs by including small portions of them as part of the storytelling.</p>

<p>It's always safer to obtain a license, but this sounds like a case of fair use to me, assuming you're limiting yourself to these very short pieces, rather than copying large portions of a copyrighted work.</p>
<p>For a more detailed breakdown of fair-use principles, see <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/32422/is-this-copyright-infringement-is-it-fair-use-what-if-i-dont-make-any-money-o/32423#32423">this answer</a>.</p>

copyright intellectual-property