as you're a new and unknown writer, i wouldn't recommend following this advice about leaving it all in and letting the publisher deal with it... to do so will mark you as a clueless amateur/beginner, so the chances of such a ms being of interest to an agent or getting you a publisher are slim to none, imo...
I would agree if the work is absolutely riddled with quotations, but if a publisher rejects you on the grounds that there were one or two well-chosen quotes (especially if you have been professional and identified the sources of the quotes in the MS) then frankly I reckon they're just looking for excuses. Let's be realistic here. If they see the quotations then they're reading the work, so you're already way ahead of the pack. And unless the quotes are at the very start then they're keeping on reading your work. Anything an agent or commissioning editor gets that far with already has them convinced that you're not a clueless amateur (or at least that you are a potentially marketable clueless amateur), and that this is something with potential.
I agree with digitig. The publisher or agent might tell you to remove the quotes because it will be too expensive to license them or something. But if they're rejecting you for that reason alone, then there's more going on. The bigger issue would be if you are intending to or end up self-publishing. I know that getting licenses to songs for films can become very pricey for a small independent film. I don't know what the costs are like as far as licensing the printing of the words for a book. I assume it's less, but it's still an issue that you probably don't want to add to your plate if you're self-publishing. If you're going the traditional route, the publisher or agent can give you better advice because they will be familiar with your specific situation and with your book.
I am in complete support this site's intellectual property laws. As a writer, I would not want someone using, misusing, or abusing my work as a support for their own. My fantasy world is mine alone. I would not want another RA Salvatore building a set of characters to place in my world and build a novel series out of it. I worked, sweated, banged my head against the computer screen, argued with myself for endless hours, and spent many sleepless nights trying to work out problems over the years. I would not want my hard work to be used as a crutch. Strip out direct references, with respect to the original authors and song writers. You can reference something indirectly, as was already brought out, by saying heavy metal was playing, or Reggae, but lyrics in a song are definitely copyrighted, just like our own work is, as soon as it hits the paper, or other media storage. Show respect. Forget the sincerest form of flattery bull$hit and leave it be. You don't want to have to hire a lawyer later.
I read a lot of Stephen King and he includes song lyrics in a lot of his works. Out of curiosity, how does he get away with it if it breaks copyright law? Is there some kind of loop hole or is there some kind of fair use law being used? Any one know?
I have no idea if the rules are the same in the US, and I don't know the legalities behind this situation, but I've read a number of UK authors talking about having to pay for the permission to include lyrics in their books. In a newspaper article Blake Morrison talked about paying around £500 for a line of an Oasis song, for example. If it is the same in the US, perhaps King just pays for the permissions?
Yes, they get permission. If you look in a book that does quote song lyrics (or movie lines, for that matter), there will be an acknowledgement on one of the pages of the book (usually the same page that gives the ISBN and publication info) stating that they lyrics were used by permission and from whom they received the permission. Usually there is some sort of fee involved, although that is not stated. You'd have to decide whether it's worth it to pay the money, or if it's not, then remove the lyrics.
Stephen King can ask the copyright owner for written permission, and will usually get that permission without having to pay for it. Inclusion of lyrics in one of his books is almost certainly good for sales of the song. But Joe Newwriter will very likely have to pay a significant amount for such permission, because it's far more likely that the lyrics are of greater sales value than the book itself.
Because he vomits out words at rates that would put Linda Blaire to shame in the Exorcist, and yet his name recognition guarantees that no matter how bad the novel, it will turn a profit. Once upon a time, his reputation as a writer was well-earned. Some think it still is. I don't.
Very likely, but not absolutely certain. Some songwriters have more encouraging attitudes: Janis Ian and Billy Bragg, for example, have said stuff on record that suggests that they would be likely to grant permission, at least on very reasonable terms. Of course, then you get into the question of how much control they have over their own songs, but for the sake of a polite letter or email it can't do any harm to try asking for permission. Maybe do a bit of research into their attitudes first, though: I doubt it would be worth asking Metallica, because they take a notoriously hard line (to the extent that they're the butt of various spoof news articles, such as the one alleging that they were claiming copyright over the chords E and F, which fooled some mainstream news agencies).
problem. Twitter is used by some people everyday. IF I used twitter and tweeting in a story doesn't that mean I need twitter's permission? If so can I make up a fake site like soundboard for twitter and instead of Tweeting I could use bouncing or okay to use twitter and tweeting?
With copyright issues like they are today. Can use actually use the terms twitter or tweeting or do I need to make something up?
You should be fine, assuming you mean that your characters are sending and receiving tweets. Facebook is being mentioned more and more in fictional works. Unless your story is about Twitter itself, you should be fine -- that is, I assume you are writing a story and the characters utilize Twitter in their everyday lives.
I'd be more concerned over dating your novel, if Twitter turns out to be a fleeting fad. I don't see how you could be sued for using the words Twitter or tweet in a story, any more than using the term Big Mac. Sue Grafton (and many, many other authors) have been using the Big Mac in their writing for many years.
I see. I thought names are not copyrighted anyway, so why not as long as you're not tarnishing their reputation (eg committing libel)? Otherwise many books would not be able to mention McDonald's or using an iPhone and opening Firefox or driving a Ford or a Mercedes - and etc.
I believe that the issue would be trademark, not copyright. If your story used Twitter as a major element - say, you depicted corrupt employees at Twitter, or you had a plot line where a security hole on Twitter resulted in something bad happening, or someone got addicted to Tweeting and something bad happened...there would be an issue there, I'd think. Or if you named a vampire novel "Tweets and Twilight", say, you'd probably face trademark suits on two fronts. I don't think that just mentioning a service brand name would be actionable in any way. On the other hand, I generally go with the "they have bigger lawyers" philosophy, and would prefer to avoid any risk at all.
Trademark would not be an issue, because a story does not compete with Twitter. Yes, defamation (libel) issues could come about, but that has nothing to do with the use of the name itself. It has to do with damaging their reputation. Twitter addiction would probably not be actionable, because Internet addiction in general is widely reported, and unless you wrote that Twitter was uniquely addictive, a judge would probably find it a frivolous lawsuit. But you would be close enough to the line that consulting with a literary attorney would be a very wise move.
I'm not 100% sure this is the right forum for this. Hopefully the mod who reads this will be forgiving. Is anyone here familiar with copyright laws (U.S.)? I intend on putting a story online. It will be a free story, but I don't want to give my characters, story idea, etc away for free. I'm not sure what the copyright process is. Should I copyright the story before it's done?
Ideas cannot be copyrighted. The EXPRESSION of an idea in a durable medium is copyrighted as soon as a durable draft has been completed. Smoke signals or skywriting would not be copyrighted. If someone photographed it, the photo would be copyrighted. The words would not, because the photographer didn't create them, and the creator did not express it in a durable medium. (Durability is very loosely defined, however, and you may not actually find it in copyright law. Proof of copyright requires some degree of durability, as a practical matter)
