I know that using song lyrics violates copyright and there's a whole process of getting permissions and whatnot. Is there a way to REFER to a song without actually using the lyrics (preferably without using the song's name over and over again, i.e. "I turned up "Take On Me*"... "I sang along to "Take on Me" by Aha" ..... "I really resonated with the lyrics of Take On Me" )? There's a recurring song in my WIP with lyrics that resonates with both MCs for different reasons. in the original, the name of the song isn't actually said between the MC's until the very end. (*first song off the top of my head/ not relevant to the WIP)
If the song's really well known - or at least well known in your target audience - then you could probably get away with something like: I turned up the volume as the rest of the band started calling Freddie Mercury a scaramouche. An alternative approach: do you need it to be a real song? If you make up some lyrics you can use them as much as you like.
Parody is also fair use so if the words are very well known you could get away with your character singing different but recognisable words, especially if you then reference the artist in another way. I did that in Darkest Storm with Springsteen's Born in the USA 'Had a brother in Qusan, fighting off the Taliban" Aldo sang horribly and out of tune "they're still there, he's al gahn" "There's no danger of you joining the E-street band any time soon mate" Lake said, laughing That said Springsteen is well known for being reasonably relaxed about that sort of thing, there are other artists who are notorious for suing at the drop of a hat who might try to claim the 'they're still there' was an IP violation if the riff is instantly recognisable as is something like 'smoke on the water' you could have a character dum dum it or tap it out on the counter, or whatever
What you can do with it depends on the song. I mean, copyright wise I couldn't help and I'd suggest treating it like a nest of fire ants: interesting from a distance, but you don't wanna put your hand in it. But a well known song should be fairly easy to use. As far as I know, titles are okay to use. Since you don't want to use a title over an over, plant the seed in the reader's head early, so that they'll automatically go for that song when you reference it later on. Or reference the lyrics without using the lyrics. There's a diner in my story called the Rising Wind. Whenever anybody gets directions to it, it's up around the bend, and the owner always has time for a good conversation. I'm writing this blatantly assuming you know CCR's Up Around The Bend by heart. Which you should, of course... No, go ahead. Have a listen. I'll wait here. Anyway, sometimes you just have to use a lyric because it's too much fun not to. At one point, I have the Devil standing in an elevator and he's got Juicy Newton's Angel Of The Morning stuck in his head, but he can't quite remember the proper lyrics because of the elevator muzak throwing him off. I used as little of the lyrics as I could, but the joke that is definitely hilarious in the book is worth the risk to me. Right now it pays off to be an absolute nobody.
I thought the lyrics in my WIP, Curios, would fall under "fair use," but your thread here caused me to do some Googling. It doesn't look like fiction is protected at all. It seems you really do need permission for even lines and snippets. I had to go back and rewrite a paragraph with some Beatles lyrics.
I have my MC walk into a tavern, and find his companion teaching a sing to the customers. The MC was only half paying attention to a song about a land of ice and snow, or the bit about glowing hot springs. If that isn't vague enough it can easily be cut.
I have a friend who published a story in a literary journal. She used a few lines of lyrics in her story. The journal took care of obtaining rights to publish a small portion of the lyrics and it wasn't much money, but the publisher just took care of everything. This is a good journal, but it's not necessarily top level. It's something I imagine your publisher will be able to handle for you. And I believe your plan is to find a publisher for your work and not self publish it, right? If that's the case, write what you need to write for the story. I could give you some examples of how I have personally handled using lyrics without using lyrics. But I rather have that discussion with you through DM and/or I could send you a link to one of my short stories where I struggled with a similar issue, but I sort of worked around it and the story was published. Feel free to contact me if you're interested.
Unless you have the MC running out screaming "aah-aaaa-aaaaaaaaa-ha!" I think you're good. Though I'd be disappointed.
