What's the legal status of the cute little quotes that some authors
(including me) like to put at the head of chapters (preceding each
chapter with a motto, as it were)?
I noticed that the documentation for "A Change in the Weather" makes
some apologies for quoting the song with the same title. I've always
assumed that it was perfectly legal to quote small pieces of, say, a
poem or a song text, even if it's not covered by the fair use rules,
but now I'm getting uncertain.
One way out is of course only to use quotes where the copyright has
expired, but suppose I quote a few lines from, say, the lyrics of
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" for no other reason than creating
atmosphere - can I be sued for doing this?
Isn't there a rule that says that a piece of music may quote a
specified number of bars from another work without it being copyright
infringement? If there is, is there an analogous rule for written
works?
Magnus