Hello out there,
This is the follow-up to the post, Editing Adrian. We’re going to talk about some of my scenes that have to be removed. Warning this post has to do with copyright and fair use.
The first scene is about the main character, Adrian, and her best friend Anne. Adrian decides to play a song on her phone and before long, the two friends are singing together. They sing a few lines of the song and then Anne grabs Adrian’s phone and cuts off the music. She did this so she could hear Adrian sing. Adrian has been singing every day for about three years. She is transgender and has been using the music to help feminize her voice.
They sing the first two lines from the chorus of “Hello” from Adele.
The lyrics, in my opinion, makes the scene so much more involved. Anne is surprised by Adrian’s singing and she ends up dragging Adrian downstairs to sing for her mom.
In the second scene, Adrian and her other best friend, Scott, —Yeah she has two —are hanging out in Adrian’s room. Adrian draws pictures in a photo-realistic style and Scott is taking pictures of all the drawings she has on the wall. Adrian isn’t happy about this, so she decides to play a trick on her friend and sing to interrupt what he’s doing.
So naturally, Adrian pulls out her phone and starts playing Miley Cyrus’s “We Can’t Stop.” Adrian gets about three or four words out from the song before Scott is chasing her around the room. Adrian jumps on the bed so the phone is just out of reach. Scott changes his focus from the phone and tackles Adrian instead. He then makes her stop the music.
This is an instance where I, as a reader, would grab a pair of earphones and get them into my ears as fast as possible to listen to the song. It enhances the feel of the scene dramatically. In fact, I’ve watched the video dozens of times while editing it. You can thank me for the free views later, Miley. ❤
The last scene is my favorite. This scene has Adrian, Anne, and Adrian’s cousin Claire. Adrian and Anne are dating and Anne is having a hard time dealing with their break up. (She’s not attracted to girls and that’s Adrian’s goal.) So, Adrian breaks out her phone and tries to make the situation better. She plays Ariana Grande’s “Breathin'”. Adrian starts singing a verse then tosses the pillow she is holding to Claire, and she sings a verse. Claire tosses it to Anne, and she reluctantly sings the last of the chorus.
This really softened up Anne and feels so significant to the scene. The first line especially, which goes, “Somedays, things just take way too much of my en-a-gy.” It just fits the mood so well.
People can sing a ‘cover’ of artists’ songs without any copyright problems. As a writer just writing down lyrics is so taboo that I’m actually worried I may need to remove the quote from the above paragraph.
There really needs to be a change in fair use for us. Every instance my characters sing, makes me want to listen. I’m 100% sure that readers of my book would do the same.
I didn’t put all of the lyrics into these scenes. I just put a few lines. How does this not count as fair use? I think the loosening of laws needs to happen for us writers. Let us create!
I support copyright. I want my work to be protected but some of the restrictions are too strict. Perhaps you have some experience in this field and can let me know what you think?
I don’t have much money, so I can’t really take the chance on leaving my work the way it is. So, I will have to remove the scenes. Luckily my editor said she is going to help me craft something similar without having to use the lyrics.
Will putting only the title of these songs entice a reader to listen along with the soon to be muted characters?
I think they will be much less likely to.
A saddened single voice screaming into the ether,
Katherine
Author Katherine Phillips 