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Posted on 12/24/2025 10:34:00 PM PST by Windcatcher
I'm 75% of the way through writing my fantasy trilogy and I heard a piece of music on Youtube that to me screamed for lyrics. If I write my own lyrics based on it and have my characters listen to someone singing it, can I legally use it in my book or is it problematic from a copyright standpoint? Do I have to get permission from the music composer? Am I better off just dropping the idea?
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Hmm. Never mind. I asked Grok and it says they would be a derivative work, so I’ll just take them out. It’s a shame.
Do not mention what music you are basing it on and it is fine.
Most music in books does not have the tune included leaving the reader to come up with their own.
I asked an AI robot about you question;
1. Music is copyright-protected even if it has no lyrics.
A musical composition (melody, harmony, structure) is protected separately from any lyrics. If you write lyrics that are clearly meant to accompany someone else’s melody, that is legally considered creating a derivative work. Only the copyright holder—usually the composer or publisher—can authorize that.
2. Even if you’re not reproducing the music on the page, using your lyrics “based on it” can still infringe.
If the lyrics are written to fit the copyrighted tune, that’s still considered derived from the original work. Courts evaluate whether it is “substantially similar,” and using the melody (even implied/unstated) falls under that.
3. You don’t need permission if:
• The piece is in the public domain (typically published before 1929 as of 2025, though check exact release date and country).
• Your new lyrics do not track, refer to, or rely on the original melody or structure—i.e., they become fully original.
4. You do need permission if:
• The music is copyrighted (which almost all YouTube music is).
• Your lyrics are meant to work with the original tune.
5. What about mentioning that your characters hear a song?
You can mention a real song by name within a novel—this is fine.
What you cannot do is reproduce its lyrics or create a derivative version of it without permission.
6. The safe options:
• Write entirely original lyrics to an original, invented tune. This avoids all issues.
• License the music, but for a novel the licensing cost is usually not worth it.
• Use public-domain music if you truly want the lyrics to fit an existing melody.
Bottom line
If the music isn’t in the public domain, and your lyrics are meant to match that melody, you need permission. If you can’t get it easily, it’s better to drop the idea or invent your own tune.
Yeah, I removed them just now and wrote a paragraph about the people singing and my characters’ reaction instead.
You can do what Tolkien did, use your own lyrics and leave it to the imagination of the reader what the music is.
I’m not going to bother. The point of the lyrics in the first place was to show how the men in a stronghold had kept memory alive of an ancient battle when everyone else on the continent had forgotten. I don’t need lyrics to get that point across.
Hey you can use AI to come up with songs and lyrics as well. The number one country song in the U.S. today was vomited by AI. don’t knock it i guess
Does the music do at least one of these on the page:
Change a character’s internal state
Change the direction of the scene
Change the reader’s understanding
If none of those happen, leave the music out.
Essentially it appears you are asking for legal advice. There are people who went to school just so they could make good money answering such questions. Copyright and other intellectual property laws can be complicated.
But one thing is not overly complicated and information regarding it is easy to find. In simplest terms, You can not use the music of another artist without their permission. Whether it falls under “fair use”in the scenario you describe is doubtful.
“Do not mention what music you are basing it on and it is fine.”
No it is not fine.
Amy Lee added lyrics to Lacrymosa, but that’s a rather old song. As long as the tune isn’t written or mentioned, lyrics on their own should be fine as long as they’re yours.
Lyrics are a poem set to a tune, so yes, you own your own lyrics. In writing alone, it’s just a poem.
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