What Are The Legal Steps To Publish A Book About Music With Your Own Transcriptions Of Copyrighted Songs?

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To publish a book with your own transcriptions of copyrighted songs, you need a written print license from whoever owns the print rights, which is usually the music publisher and not the artist. Check first that the song is still under copyright, and have a lawyer look over the terms. If you can’t get permission, change the book so it doesn’t need it. The rest of this post goes through each step.

What happens if I publish transcriptions without permission?

The rights holder can sue you, and they can ask Amazon to take your book down. Often they won’t sue, but a takedown can come with a warning on your KDP account, and repeated problems can lead to the account being closed. I am not a lawyer, so I’m not telling you what you should or shouldn’t do. Talk to a lawyer about your own book.

This question was sent to me directly: “What are the legal steps to publish a book about music? It would include my transcriptions of copyrighted songs.” The hard part is that it is a great idea for a book that people would want to read, but you don’t own the rights to the songs.

What are the legal steps?

There are four, plus a fallback:

1. Find out whether the song is still under copyright. Most modern songs are: for works created after 1 January 1978, copyright generally lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years, and for older works the term depends on several factors (US Copyright Office).
2. Find out who owns the print rights, which is usually the music publisher, not the artist.
3. Ask that publisher for a print license, in writing.
4. Have a lawyer look over the terms before you sign or publish.
5. If you can’t get permission, change the book so it doesn’t need it.

If you want the rest of the publishing steps in one place, my free self-publishing checklist is what helped me publish 230 books.

Is a transcription I made myself still covered by copyright?

Yes. Writing out the notes, chords or tabs yourself doesn’t make the song yours, because the song belongs to its owner however it is written down. There is also no safe amount: the Copyright Office says there is no formula that lets you use a set percentage of a work, or a specific number of words or lines, without permission, and courts decide fair use case by case (Copyright Office fair use index).

I haven’t published music books myself, but I have published cookbooks. There I learned that a mere list of ingredients is not protected by copyright, while the directions you write and a collection of recipes can be (Copyright Office FAQ). Music is much stricter than that. I have also seen other authors get into real trouble for using cartoon or video game characters in their books without permission.

How do I get permission to use a song in a book?

You ask the owner of the print rights, usually the song’s music publisher, for a print license, and you get it as a written contract. They won’t just send you an email saying go ahead and make money from their song.

A print license is not the same as a mechanical license. The blanket mechanical license the Copyright Office describes covers digital music delivery such as downloads and streams, and says nothing about printed books (Copyright Office: Music Modernization Act). So a license to record or stream a song does not let you print it.

Ask the publisher for its terms in writing, including the fee and how many copies you can print. In my experience, the big publishers and labels mostly deal with names that are already big, and by then the author has lawyers handling the contracts. Smaller publishers and independent artists are often easier to reach.

So the honest short answer is that a book built on other people’s songs is a hard business model. That is not because the idea is bad or because people wouldn’t be interested. It is because the permission is so hard to get.

Check out this related article: How To Write A Self Publishing Copyright Page?

Can I quote song lyrics or name a song in my novel?

You can name a song, its title and the artist freely, but quoting the lyrics, even one line, needs the song publisher’s permission. The US Copyright Office says words and short phrases such as names and titles are not protected by copyright, and its list of examples includes “the title or subtitle of a work, such as a book, a song” (Copyright Office: Works Not Protected by Copyright). So a character can hum a song by name or listen to a band, and you don’t need anyone’s permission for that.

The lyrics are different. They are the song’s creative words, and no set number of words is safe. The FAQ answer “Can I use a few lines or bars of a song without permission?” below gives the Copyright Office’s view on that. If you do want to quote, “How do I get permission to use a song in a book?” above explains who to ask and how.

My advice: if a scene needs a song, name it and describe what it does to the character instead of quoting it. A sentence like “the chorus of that old hit made her pull over and cry” often works harder than the lyrics would. Or write your own lyrics, which are yours to use. This is general information and not legal advice.

How do I copyright my own book or song?

You don’t have to do anything for your own writing or music to be protected. The US Copyright Office says protection starts as soon as the author fixes the work in a tangible form, such as writing it down or recording it. Registering is not mandatory, but for a US work you must register (or be refused) before you can enforce your rights in court, and registering in time can help you claim certain damages and attorney fees (US Copyright Office). None of this covers a song you didn’t write: your own transcription doesn’t give you rights in the song. For the page in your book, see How To Write A Self Publishing Copyright Page?.

Should I talk to a lawyer first?

Yes. A lawyer can tell you what you can and can’t include and look over any license before you sign it. I have been in touch with many people in this exact situation, asking how to get the rights to include a celebrity’s or musician’s work in their books, and the answer has always been that it is very difficult.

Some people publish lyrics or chords for free and are left alone, but the record labels and publishers don’t like it, and I have seen sites get takedown requests for exactly that. I haven’t seen anyone make money this way, or even get permission in the first place. With smaller artists you might have a better chance.

How can I avoid the problem altogether?

Write about the music instead of reproducing it, or use songs that are in the public domain. Writing about it can mean history, analysis, how to play in a certain style, or teaching exercises you wrote yourself. For public domain songs, check the Copyright Office’s guidance on duration before you rely on a date. If your book is sheet music you wrote, see How To Self Publish Sheet Music, and for the basics see Are Self Published Books Copyrighted?. The same care applies to people: if your book names someone real, read can you write about real people in a book.

Have you managed to publish a book with copyrighted songs, or found a way that wasn’t so painful? Please share it in the comments below.

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