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Have you ever added song lyrics to your story?

Geri Clouston
  Have you ever added song lyrics to your story? Popular songs can set a mood or even a time. Beatles music puts you into the Hippy days of the 60's. But, can you include these lyrics in your book? Here is some important information from Jason Boog, writer and GalleyCat editor- Have you ever quoted song lyrics in your book? Music can set the mood, evoke a certain setting or channel a particular emotion.However, writers need to be aware of copyright issues surrounding music in books. We caught up with Copyright Clearance Center's author and creator relations director Christopher Kenneally, discovering the key questions authors should ask before including a song. Kenneally explained:Consider not quoting the song. Lyrics, like all creative expression, are copyrighted. Copyright gives the author or creator the exclusive right to republication of the work. Any writer who wishes to quote lyrics, or for that matter, passages from another's book, must obtain permission first. It's probably worth asking how necessary or vital such quotation is to any particular creative work.Kenneally added:If it's used to set a mood or establish a period, it's easy enough to refer to song titles, which, under U.S. law, are not copyrighted.…

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