i was wondering the law concerning this if it violates copyright to do so?
Unless you're using lyrics from songs that were written prior to 1922 or 1923 (can't remember the exact year off the top of my head) or which are otherwise in the public domain, what you're doing is copyright infringement.
Found this on this site though..
Song titles generally don't fall within the protection of copyright law since most are not sufficiently original or independently conceived by the artist. Are phrases like "born to run" or "on the road again" sufficiently original so as to deserve legal protection? The few words in a song title may have been used many times before and should be able to be available for general use as a natural part of the English language. Copyright law in itself doesn't seem to prevent anyone from placing a song title on a bumper sticker or t-shirt.
It is
generally (but not universally) correct that
song titles are not protected by copyright law, but the reason stated ("most [song titles] are not sufficiently original or independently conceived by the artist") is absolutely wrong. However, in your original post, you told us that your "signs contain song lyrics portions
such a verse, or [c]horus." There's a
huge difference between a sign that says "Born to Run" and on that says, "There's a lady who knows all that glitters is gold, and she's buying a Stairway to Heaven." Also, the statement that "[c]opyright law
in and of itself doesn't seem to prevent anyone from placing a song title on a bumper sticker or t-shirt" implies that other areas of law (e.g., trademark law) might impose such a legal prohibition.
I'm not talking about complete lyrics.. just phrases.. which in all honesty would be used regularly in conversation anyway.. they're are just recognized as a lyric because someone put them in a song.
So...we've moved from "a verse[] or [c]horus" to song titles to "just phrases." Obviously, the effect of the law depends on specific facts, and you've been inconsistent about what exactly you're doing. If you want certainty, you'll need to have an attorney review what you're doing. However, it seems obvious to me that you're seeking to make money by capitalizing on
someone else's use of a phrase in a song. For example, unless you're also selling signs that say "Elevator to Nirvana," your (hypothetical) use of "Stairway to Heaven" on a sign is a rather obvious attempt to profit from someone else's work. In other words, while the phrases might be used in ordinary conversation, you wouldn't be putting them on signs if they weren't known because of the songs. Right?
