> The recent thread about the legality of derivative works makes me wonder:
>
> 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)?
It's perfectly legal; this falls under the fair use clause. You can
quote a small excerpt from something for parody, critique, literary
value, etc., and such is completely legal as long as you including
appropriate attributions.
> 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.
It is. My guess is that someone was being overcautious.
> 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?
The short answer is no. The long answer is: Anyone can be sued for
anything. If the quote is clearly intended to merely add atmosphere,
is sufficiently short, and is properly attributed to the author, then
you are protected under fair use.
If you quote the whole song, that is copyright infringement. If you
quote "most" of the song, then that might be -- it would be up to a
court to decide. A few lines is perfectly safe.
> 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?
This is a slightly trickier area, and is subtly different from what
you ask above. To incorporate part of a song in a song you are
writing is a little different than putting a properly-attributed quote
as a chapter header for garnish, if you see the difference.
However, there are numerous cases where parts of famous songs are
incorporated in obvious ways (and probably the key here is the
obviousness) in new songs: so long as the incorporation is obvious
and the original source of the excerpt is attributed in the credits
for the song. Such an inclusion could be considered parody and would
be protected under fair use.
Now if you took a part of another song and tried to incorporate it
into your song without any attribution and tried to make the inclusion
subtle, then that could easily be interpreted as copyright
infringement.
> If there is, is there an analogous rule for written
> works?
It's all about fair use: literary value, critique, or parody. The
excerpt has to be short and attributed. If you meet these criteria,
you should have absolutely no problem.
Erik Max Francis, &tSftDotIotE && uuwest!alcyone!max, max@alcyone.darkside.com
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