Permissions is a really tricky business, and one I’m actually quite familiar with.
I used to work in the permissions department at Faber, which meant granting people the rights to use work owned by the Plath, Hughes and Eliot estates, along with other Faber authors — it was absolutely fascinating to see the huge variety of projects people wanted to use their work in!
Unfortunately for some, though, song lyrics are a bit of a different beast. I know so many authors — and it’s happened to me too — who’ve been warned off using them by their agents or editors because they can be prohibitively expensive to clear.
It’s usually charged per line and yes, they definitely cost more depending on how famous they are. For the sort-of A-list type megastars, you’d be talking in the thousands.
Having said that, it can’t hurt to get a quote if you’re only planning on using a line or two.
Firstly, you’d need to find out who owns the print rights to the song, which is usually the publishers. There are three main databases that list these, and you can find details on www.copyrightkids.org.
Once you know who the rightsholder is, they’ll usually have a form for permissions requests on their website, or at least an email address for you to contact.
Permissions for fiction and poetry are generally much cheaper and easier than lyrics to clear.
– Nicci Cloke
On a similar note, for anyone interested, permissions for fiction and poetry are generally much cheaper and easier than lyrics to clear.
If you’re hoping to use an extract from a published work in yours, I’d recommend the WATCH file as a good place to find the correct rightsholder to contact.
It’s also worth saying that if you’re planning on going the traditional route and submitting your novel to agents or publishers, you don’t technically need to have the permissions already in place — so you don’t need to have paid for them until you know you have a publishing contract.
In fact, most rightsholders will need to know details about that contract before they grant you permission because the expected print run and the number of territories the book will be sold into generally affect the cost of the licence.
But, obviously, if another writer’s material plays a significant part in the plot and you wouldn’t be able to remove it should you need to, it’s worth getting those wheels in motion as soon as you can.
