Legalities of using song lyrics in a free Kindle book? http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49656 Lisa.Vail Hello! I'm writing a very short book to put for free download on Kindle/Amazon. The opening scene is the main character panicking that she's going to die while listening to the Friends soundtrack. The lines 'your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA' and the line 'Your mother told you there'd be days like these' are used in it. The opening is kind of typical without the humour from that; it's meant to be bizarre that she's contemplating lyrics while dying. Am I allowed to use song lyrics in a book if it's not ever going to be sold for profit? Do I still need to get copyright permissions and if so, how do I do that? Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:19:14 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49656?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1097716 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49656?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1097716 Bookworm140 Whether or you are making money or not, is not a factor. You have to get permission from the owner of the copyright. The owner of the copyright has the right to say whether or not their lyrics are in your book. (Yes, Stephen King gets permission for all those quotes and lyrics in his books.) You can refer to the song, with no problem. <em> MC's throat tightened. Where were the pills? She fumbled with the pill bottle as she felt the pain in her chest. All this and the 'Friends' soundtrack was playing on the TV as she tried to get the bottle open. Darn, those safety caps. She knew there would be days like this. Mom said so. She glared at the TV as the pills rolled across the floor.</em> Crummy writing, but you get the point. Hope this helps. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:28:32 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49656?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1099009 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49656?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1099009 Leonara Declamara [quote=Lisa.Vail] Am I allowed to use song lyrics in a book if it's not ever going to be sold for profit? Do I still need to get copyright permissions and if so, how do I do that? [/quote] No, you are not allowed. Copyright protection applies regardless of profit status (you listening, fanfic writers? all those "not for profit" disclaimers don't do anything but prove you know you're infringing). You need to contact the owner of the copyright, and you will likely have to pay for the privilege... and it won't be cheat. Write your own lyrics, or refer to them indirectly, but don't use them. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:50:17 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49656?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122797 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/writing-101/threads/49656?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122797