Julie Broad (Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers) warns authors about legal and financial risks of quoting song lyrics, movie lines, or poems in books without permission. She explains that song lyrics generally require permission and can carry statutory damages (she cites up to $150,000 per infringement if willful), movie lines may sometimes be fair use but often need permission or risk trademark/endorsement concerns, and poems—especially modern ones—are usually restricted unless in the public domain (e.g., published before 1923). Her practical advice: remove risky quotes or secure permission and consult a copyright lawyer or publisher/fact-checker.
Questions this video answers
Up to $150,000 per infringement.
12 Rounds with Bob Dylan by Richard Westline.
The Sandlot (1993).
Published before 1923.
Chapters
Do you know what costs more than hiring Taylor Swift to sing at your book launch? Using her lyrics without permission. Quoting any song lyrics in your book is problematic. But after I shared that on a short video, I got so many questions, like, can I quote this movie? What if I include this poem? How about if I do credit? If I give them credit? So if you're wondering if you can quote that in your book, this video is for you. Hi, I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers, creator of the ultimate book marketing software for nonfiction authors, Author launch kit, and of course, your host here at Book Launchers tv. I'm going to tell you a little story. My first paper that I ever submitted in college, I got a pretty rude awakening. Instead of a grade on the top of my paper, I got a note that said, book an appointment. Yeah, now, I was a pretty good student in high school. Wasn't top of my class on everything, but, you know, I was used to getting commended for my work, so. So when I was told to book an appointment, I had no idea what was going on. When I sat down in my professor's office, nervous as heck. He was nice, but he was firm. And he slid my paper over to me with red circles on it and said, you, paper is full of plagiarism. I was sick to my stomach, and I know my face went bright red. I probably made tomatoes look pale. But he went on to say that he normally would have given a student an F for so much plagiarism, but he felt that it wasn't intentional and it wasn't. Not citing sources or misattributing them is a big issue. But if I had directly quoted something, I did have a citation. I know that failing to acknowledge where information, concepts, or data comes from is plagiarism. I hadn't done that. So I was really confused. But as he took me through my paper, I discovered something I hadn't been taught. Even if you reword something, the idea that originated that whole section that you've written still belongs to the original author and must be credited. I'd done a lot of research for that paper, wrote down notes and synthesized it into my own words. But I had not sourced the original ideas. And that was a big no. No. Building on someone else's ideas without citation, you using concepts or frameworks from others, whether paraphrased or summarized, and not giving credit, that's plagiarism. Whoops. I really didn't know at the time. Now he gave me the chance to redo the paper. So I didn't fail, and I walked out of there with a giant lesson. So all that's to say, I understand when authors do things because they just don't know. But I want to make sure that you do know. Because when you write a book, there's more than just getting hauled into the professor's office on the line. There's real legal and financial consequences. And by the way, this highlights the value of a fact checker. We have one available for every single book project we work on. Because there's nothing more valuable than having someone cover your butt to make sure you're not saying anything you can't or shouldn't or that you've sourced the things that you should. All right, let's knock one of these down right away. The easy one, in my view, but the one that people often do not know about, and that's song lyrics. Even just a line or two like hello from the other side can cost you up to $150,000 per infringement. And if the court decides you did it willfully. But maybe you're thinking, well, I gave credit to the artist, eh? It's not like quoting a book or speech. Credit is not permission. And song lyrics require permission to be used. Sometimes you can get permission. We had an author write a book called 12 Rounds with Bob Dylan, Richard Westline. He passed away right after his book launched. But the book is such a fabulous tribute to Bob Dylan, and it's also an amazing legacy of his passion for. For Bob Dylan, from Richard. Anyway, in the book, he quotes song lyrics, but he had permission in the form of a written letter from Bob Dylan's estate that he could. He didn't have to pay for that, but often you have to pay for the right to use the lyrics. Now, people asked me after my little short video was posted on song lyrics, if you can paraphrase the lyrics for the purpose of your story, and it's dicey. It's called derivative work, and you still need permission. You U.S. copyright law protects not just the exact words, but also the original expression and structure of the lyrics. Creating a derivative work, which includes making substantial changes or adaptations to the original lyrics, still require permission from the copyright owner. Now, some people say, well, what percentage do I have to change? Well, changing 30% of the lyrics doesn't magically make it legal. The legal test is whether the new work is transformative and. And not substantially similar to the original, which is a complex and subjective determination. Now, fair use is something people often try to argue, but it's highly Unlikely. Especially in books you're selling. Judges don't care if it was just 10 words in a dream. So the safest thing you can do? Remove them. Now you can try for permission and we have authors who have tried and succeeded, like Richard, but more often than not they never hear back and the project gets delayed. Or they do finally hear back and they are quoted a crazy amount of money and just remove it anyways. So easiest thing is to remove it now. What about a line from your favorite movie? Using a short, well known line or phrase from a movie like May the force be with you may be considered fair use if it's brief, used for commentary, criticism, or as part of a discussion, and it does not make up a substantial part of your book. Movie scripts and dialogues are protected by copyright. For longer quotes, or if the line is distinctive and central to the movie, you might be required to get permission from the copyright holder. Usually that's the studio or the screenwriter. Even a short line could require permission if it's highly recognizable or used in a way that suggests endorsement. Especially if your book is commercial. Always attribute the quote, for example, it's about time, Benny. My clothes are going out of style from Sandlot 1993. I love that quote. Proper attribution respects intellectual property rights and helps clarify you're not claiming the words as your own. Some famous lines like I'll be back might be trademarked for specific uses, and using them in a way that confuses consumers or implies affiliation could create legal issues. Bottom line is that you can use quotes from a movie so long as they are short, relevant, and you only always cite the movie title and the year. Now, we normally talk only about nonfiction, but for fiction or if you're just feeling nervous about something, it's always best to consult a copyright lawyer or seek permission to be safe. Okay, one last one I got questions about after my short little video. What about poems? Well, they're unsurprisingly, more like song lyrics than lines from a movie. Quoting porch quoting Porch quoting. Poetry in your book is generally much more restrictive than quoting from books or short movie lines. Poems, especially modern ones, are protected by copyright law, and their short length means even a few lines can be considered a substantial part of the work. So what does that mean? Well, you're unlikely to pass fair use tests because poems are often brief. Quoting even one or two lines can represent a significant portion of the work, and it's less likely to qualify as fair use compared to quoting a similar amount from a novel. Permission is usually required for most copyrighted poems, you must get permission from the copyright holder, which is often the poet or possibly the publisher. And you have to do this before quoting, even if it's just for a few lines. And just like lyrics, attribution is necessary but not sufficient. Even if you cite the poem and author correctly, this does not substitute for getting permission. The exception is if the poem was published before 1923 or the copyright has otherwise expired. Then you can quote it freely. However, attribution is still recommended. For close legal questions, consult your publisher or my recommendation a copyright attorney summary. You cannot quote freely most poems in your book, even very short excerpts generally will require permission unless the poem is in the public domain or quote qualifies as fair use, which, again, like songs, is rare. For poetry, proper citation is always required, but is not a substitute for permission. I hope this keeps you out of the professor's office. Or more importantly, out of a lawyer's office. Now, what other questions do you have? Let's chat about it in the comments, of course, after you subscribe to the channel and like this video. Because seriously, I just saved you for making an expensive mistake mistake. So liking the video. That's a nice thing to do at this point. And let's chat about it in the comments below. And when you comment the day a video is released, you get entered to win some of our fabulous swag. All right, I'll see you on the next video.
