Copyright on song words?

[cat811]

Does anyone know if you are allowed to print out the words to a famous song, and give them out (if you make sure the artist is acknowledged so it;s clear it's their song) Do you need permission from the artist to do this, if the words are freely available on the internet anyway? I'm looking to (hopefully)put some words to a specific song in a 'favour' bag for an event. Thanks in advance :)

If it was for a school I think it would be all right, as schools pay a license subscription to allow a certain amount of photocopying.

If it is just for personal use I guess it would be OK; it is probably where it is for financial or commercial gain that it becomes a problem.

But I'm only a retired TA, so try and get a more informed opinion.

Are you charging for the event? Is it in a pub type setting?

I'd look on the PRS website as they are v helpful - you can always speak to someone there too

Are you charging admission to the event? I think technically this might be classed as commercial use, and so permission would required. You need permission from the music publishing company who own the copyright in the lyrics rather than the artist.

It's really hard to track down copyright holders on song lyrics - there may be several companies involved (I used to clear permissions for publishing). The fees for reuse can be fairly high unfortunately, and it can take weeks to get a response.

Could you say what the song is?