2 Copyright questions

[belial.1980]

1) A character paraphrases something that I've researched in a non-fiction source. (Not what I'd consider common knowledge) How does one present this information without plagiarizing?

2) Song lyrics? If you want to use lyrics written by somebody else in your  manuscript, is it contingent upon the author to get persmission/pay for their use ::before:: submitting said manuscript for publication, or would that be something the editor would deal with if the publisher buys the manuscript? Usually you have to pay to use somebody else's song lyrics, correct?

It seems unthinkably presumptuous to use somebody else's lyrics without permission. But what if the author pays to use these lyrics in his manuscript but never gets the manuscript published, or the use of the lyrics are cut from the final draft by the editor?

I'm a million years from completing a decent manuscript, but these are little things that I just wondered about. Thanks in advance to anybody who knows the answers.




 

[LizW65]

As for the first, it's perfectly fine to use legitimate research in a fictional context as long as you change the wording so you're not copying someone else's work.  People who write historical novels, eg, do it all the time.  It doesn't matter whether the information is common knowledge or not.

No idea about the second, but I suspect it may come under the heading of Fair Use.

[Starbeam]

As for the first, it's perfectly fine to use legitimate research in a fictional context as long as you change the wording so you're not copying someone else's work.  People who write historical novels, eg, do it all the time.  It doesn't matter whether the information is common knowledge or not.

Yah, you don't wanna do like the one romance writer did.  She took whole sections from an article and just copied it and tried to fit it in as post coital dialogue.  About beavers and beaver dams.

[Quantus]

On the lyrics thing, it probably depends on how your using it.  If you have a character singing their favorite song in the shower, your probably ok, since your making it known that they are existing song lyrics; that strikes me as somewhere between air use and just a pop culture reference.  Now, if your using it as a bit of poetic language etc, but leaving its source ambigious, i dunno.  You might simply make a footnote of it in the manuscript for now, and let the legals figure out the licensing when actual publication time comes, but I really dont know.

[LizW65]

Yah, you don't wanna do like the one romance writer did.  She took whole sections from an article and just copied it and tried to fit it in as post coital dialogue.  About beavers and beaver dams.

Actually, it was black-footed ferrets, not beavers.  You can read the whole ugly, hilarious story here:
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/categories/category/cassie_edwards/
as an example of what NOT to do.

[Starbeam]

Actually, it was black-footed ferrets, not beavers.  You can read the whole ugly, hilarious story here:
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/categories/category/cassie_edwards/
as an example of what NOT to do.

Ohhh...yeah.  I knew it was some rodent like animal.  Beaver just somehow seemed appropriate.