Lyric re-use - Royalty Question

[Qwerty]

Hello,

Say if you wanted to lift someone's lyrics and use them with a different melody over a different chord structure - what hoops would you have to jump through to make it legal?

Would it make a difference if you were only looking to use a small part of someone's elses lyric?

When does a quoted lyrical reference stop being clever and start being a fee-based sample requiring authorisation and copyright holder agreement?

Any ideas?

Q.

 

[DonF]

In the US there are limited circumstances in which one may use a small portion of another's work without compensation. I don't know if the same is true in Australia. The safest course would be to contact the copyright owner of the work you want to quote, explain what you'd like to do, and ask whether they would grant permission; and if so, what the fee would be.