Hello all, been a while, been busy. Haven't we all I can almost hear you say.
So to business. Elvis Presley gave an impromptu address to his audience on his opening night at the International Hotel Las Vegas in 1969. As it was the spoken word and has been reported on, is it OK to quote him verbatim.
Also, can a writer use, say, just the first line of a song without permission?
It is actually the first line of 'Blue Suede Shoes' along with the half way through his first nights performance announcement, I want to use.
Any Ideas?
Regards Paul G
Thank you Lorraine, as always more than opinion but checked out before you reply.
Yes I have noticed the "with kind permission" statements, I was just hoping not to have to go down that rout again. For "In The Absence of Time", I got in touch with the estate of Christian Barnard. They got back to me pretty quickly and we exchanged mails. They asked for the section from the book to make sure there was nothing that may have blackened his name. As it was making him out to be a hero they didn't even write back to say yes go ahead no problem with that or no we don't approve your words. So I am assuming they are OK with my "bigging him up" and I will be going ahead with those words in my submission.
It's been a while hasn't it Lorraine, Glad you think I'm "brilliant" too and without any hints from me!!!!
Thank you. Paul
H, Paul,
Unless you were there and noted down the singer's words, you probably read them somewhere - which means someone wrote them down in a periodical, and that gives them copyright. If you saw them on a film, his estate may still own them under performance rights. You could quote indirectly: 'E said that when he was ten, such and such happened' is not the same as 'E said, "When I was ten..." ' If it's something that is widely now, in the public domain, that may be different.
I suspect the rights to his lyrics are part of his estate. You'd need to ask them. Sometimes you'll see a note at the start or end of a book that says something like 'The artists' words/The lines from ' a song' on page 42 are reproduced by kind permission of...'
Music is a very particular industry, with its own rules; for instance, it is illegal to photocopy sheet music. There's also the question of international intellectual property rights. While titles are not necessarily covered by copyright, they can be trademarked, if the creator so desires. Googling BSS tells me that it has a trademark application attached to it, though what that covers I don't know; it may only relate to merchandise. So even there you have to be careful.
If in any doubt at all, check with the estate or the artist's representatives.
Good luck - and go on being brilliant!
Lorraine
Thank you Jan, I had a funny feeling in my water that this wasn't going to be straight forward as it was Elvis Presley that said the words in the middle of his first night at the International Hotel in Vegas.
I was hoping that because he just said the words off the cuff that it was there in the world for us lesser mortals to grab and stitch into our BRILLIANT!!! stories. (I am a man who dreams)
So, I did think using the first line of Blue Suede Shoes might not be a goer. I think, I know there I go again trying to reason but I think we are allowed to use song titles though without permission aren't we? If not I am going to have to write it in such a way that it is obvious what the song is. Ah the trials of being "brilliant"
Thank you Jan regards Paul