[net.legal] What are the laws about lyrics?

wolf@ittvax.UUCP (Mary Anne Wolf) (08/24/83)

Does anyone know what the laws are about copying lyrics off of
record-album covers or out of music-books?  I imagine that one may 
not sell the copies, but how about posting them to the net.  
Do the laws change if one writes down the lyrics from hearing
the songs, instead of copying from a written source?

I think I remember limits on how much of prose can be photocopied for 
one's own use (something like one chapter of a book or one article from
a magazine).  I'm not sure about the equivalent for songs, or whether
copying by hand is different from photocopying.

This discussion came up when someone proposed the creation of net.music.lyrics.
This also has to do with the large number of lyrics posted to net.tv.

I think I remember someone having legal problems after having posted
lyrics to a Monty Python song (to net.jokes?).  The problems had to do
with a book of Monty Python lyrics.

While we're at it, does anyone know about the copyright laws on poems
submitted to net.poems?

	Mary-Anne Wolf (decvax!yale-comix!mwolf or decvax!ittvax!wolf)