Printing and selling portions of lyrics

[mpuente77]

State: California City: Los Angeles

I began printing portions of songs and then framing them to have in my own home. I designed them to look really nice and thought it was cool to have them hung up like pictures. I also did the same with famous quotes. Soon I had people telling me that I should go out and sell these. Now, I don't know much about law but from my standpoint it would sound illegal considering so many copyright lawsuits going around. But I still have a few questions. Is there any way to go about this legally without paying royalties how would it be? If I do have to pay royalties, who do I contact? and what if I can't contact them? And my last question just for reference, Is there any loopholes?

If something is unclear or you have questions feel free to ask.

 

[divgradcurl]

State: California City: Los Angeles

I began printing portions of songs and then framing them to have in my own home. I designed them to look really nice and thought it was cool to have them hung up like pictures. I also did the same with famous quotes. Soon I had people telling me that I should go out and sell these. Now, I don't know much about law but from my standpoint it would sound illegal considering so many copyright lawsuits going around. But I still have a few questions. Is there any way to go about this legally without paying royalties how would it be? If I do have to pay royalties, who do I contact? and what if I can't contact them? And my last question just for reference, Is there any loopholes?

If something is unclear or you have questions feel free to ask.

If the songs are in the public domain -- first written prior to 1923 -- then you are free to use them how you desire.

If the songs are not in the public domain, you'll either need a license, or rely on "fair use." You can purchase licenses to use the lyrics from the Harry Fox Agency (at least, I'm pretty sure that's where you would go -- at the very least, it's a safe first point of contact). You could rely on "fair use" and not pay royalties -- but search this site for "fair use," or search Google -- unfortunately for you, use of someone else's copyrighted materials, even in part, for commercial gain is almost never a "fair use."

You'll probably have to get a license, or just go ahead and hope you don't get sued.