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Mon 9 May, 2005 03:08 pm
I would like to use lyrics in my book that were written in the early 1800s. Do I need permission?
Is the Pope Catholic?... I believe you do it through ASCAP
After nearly two hundred years the lyrics are in the public domain and available for use.
roparte: If the lyrics were written in the early nineteenth century, then they are most probably in the public domain, and you will not need to obtain any permissions to use them. The only exception that I can imagine is if the lyrics have been adapted to a piece of music that is copyrighted -- in that case, you might have some problems with the owner of the music copyright.