Client using lyrics in advertisement---copyright infringement?

[beowolfe03]

A client of ours sent me an advertising postcard they want me to facelift and the main catch-phrase they chose for the postcard is the song lyric:

“Doctor Doctor, give me the news
We’ve got a bad case of lovin' you!”


This is obviously the chorus of the Robert Palmer song, "Bad Case of Loving You," and I somehow doubt they have rights to use it (they're a tiny carpet cleaning company in my town of 300,000---and don't ask how this song applies. It's a stretch.) I've done a lot of work on the postcard already without even thinking about it; do I go ahead and tell them that they won't be able to use it? Or do we risk it and use it anyway and at least mention it to them? Or does it even matter?

[CkretAjint]

contact the person who owns the rights to the song and ask them. I wouldn't risk it, it's not worth the cheesey advertising they are trying to do...

[beowolfe03]

Hmm. Logical. Now, where to find that person...

---
A few moments later...
---

Well, obviously right here: http://www.clearance.com/get_yourself.htm

Seems like a lot of work for an insignificant ad. But I'm still not sure. This seems more about using it in films and stuff.
Tricky.

[DesignVHL]

That is tough....it never hurts to TRY to get permission....you would need to contact the record label who produced the album and ask....most likely they will probably say yes. It isn't like your using the song audibly in a commerical or something....

I am not sure, but it seems like you could take a song lyrics, put it in quotes, and CITE the artist/person who wrote it...but I'd make double sure thats OK first.

BUT def. best to at least TRY for permission first....

[D-Frag]

this is one of those issues where i make the client sign off on a contract stating I am not responsible for any legal repercussions they may ensue from using copyrighted work.

[CkretAjint]

this is one of those issues where i make the client sign off on a contract stating I am not responsible for any legal repercussions they may ensue from using copyrighted work.

Definately GREAT advise right here...


“Doctor Doctor, give me the news
We’ve got a bad case of lovin' you!”


Couldn't you request that they eidt the lyrics?

"Doctor Doctor, give me the review
We've got a horrid case of lovin' on you!"

*shrugs* Just an idea :)

[frankster]

Is it for an STD clinic? Id be trying to persuade them not to use the quote at all. It's cheeserific.

[AlexNJ210]

Is it for an STD clinic? Id be trying to persuade them not to use the quote at all. It's cheeserific.

ditto.

[beowolfe03]

It's a carpet cleaning business. Their target audience with this particular ad is clinics and doctors' offices. The next line in the ad is:

Well, we’ve got a bad case of loving your dirty office carpets and furniture, anyway. And, when it’s love, good things happen.

I still haven't gotten any word back from the client, and my two radio people don't have any help. Beh. This is way too much trouble.

[Broacher]

I'd be curious to know the answer to this one too. I've always avoided quoting pop tunes, but my web designer friend says it's no problem provided you give clear and proper credit, and only use a line or two.

Recently I saw a very high-end booklet piece designed for a big local client (a health spa) that totally relied on pop tune pullouts to headline every single spread. Yes, the songwriters were credited, yes, the piece was very tastefully designed, well-written-- but part of me thinks that when the whole campaign is wrapped around the creative--no, the PROVEN creative efforts of another artist/writer--that just giving you written credit isn't enough.

I know that North American songwriters have some of the strongest creative rights anywhere. Something that illustrators, photographers, and even writers envy. Interesting about the Hollywood Writers Guild strike. What is the legal message on that one? That a non-unionized individual creative has less control over his work than one in an industry recognized union?

[Kool]

Not sure if this applies but seemed sorta topical:

Prince moves to sue fan Web sites (http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/51357098)

[GraphixNPrint]

Kool, prince is just a jackass!

[Ned]

You mean, "The Artist Currently Known as Prince"

[GraphixNPrint]

yes, that is who I mean...

[PrintDriver]

An indemnity clause should be part of any contract these days. You never know where the client might have found the material they give you to incorporate into a design.

Check out the fine print of any image license that indemnifies the stock house from responsibility for real or collateral damages you may incur through use of their images for any reason. Fine piece of wording there.

However, I don't believe that would cover you in a case of blatant copyright infringement. More probably it would cover you only in a case of truly not knowing the provenance of an image after 'due diligence'.

Rock stars and famous people who bite the hand of their fan base tend to lose that fan base. I can remember the first time Richard Biggs came to a SciFi Con and after seeing several non-authorized photos show up during the autograph session, put his pen down and went out through the dealers' room and made them put away anything that wasn't "authorized". Photos, pins, patches, etc. That show got so bad that fans were accusing other fans of copyright infringement just for wearing costumes. I don't think he was asked back as a guest, in this area anyway. Not that he was wrong in his stance, but rabid fans are what keeps your show on the road.

[beowolfe03]

All that being said, I'll probably just give credit on the card. I took out a second line of lyrics that he wanted to include, so it's not as bad as before. And let's face it. Its audience is limited to doctors, and doctors within the tri-county area no less, and it's certainly not like we're in California where everyone knows someone in the music industry.
I don't think it's right, but we're so isolated here that it seems highly improbable that one of the doctors works for FACT or RIAA or whoever it is that would like to sue our pants off. It's a simple postcard for a tiny carpet cleaner. I was told that it just shouldn't matter that much in this case.

[PrintDriver]

Quotes used editorially and attributed are one thing. Using quotes to promote a product the artist doesn't endorse is quite another.

Just sayin'...

[GraphixNPrint]

And to say these are only going to doctors... do you know how many doctors are also investors .... some possibly into the music or entertainment industry.

Is the receptionists (who most likely gets the postcard) husband in the music industry?

You never know these things; I would avoid it, unless your prepared to take a big financial loss.

[Broacher]

^That's what I thought too. And then it's up to the judge to decide whether you were being editorial, or selling a product. That's one of the things with the new 'emotional' marketing/branding strategies.

Even if you come across as endorsing a popular poetic or artistic thought first, I don't think that entitles you to just go and say, oh, yeah-- that's exactly why our service or product is so go too. Not if the artistic item, in this case, words of a song, are central to reinforcing your selling message. You're USING the artwork for commercial gain-- you're not writing an English essay.

And your geographic limitations don't exclude you from your legal obligation to respect that copyright. Though that's becoming a harder and harder law to defend when faced with the reality of today's "it's not illegal-- if you don't get caught" and all content is 'free' mentality.

Of course, there are always public domain song. Everybody:

I'm a little teapot, short and stout...

[PrintDriver]

Or you could try to claim 'satire' but that might be a stretch too.

I'm not an advertiser or a copyright lawyer.
You see this in ads all the time but do you know if they have cleared it with the original publisher? Big corps will have but you wonder about the stuff that comes in your mailbox sometimes.