Wikipedia:Lyrics and poetry
This page documents an English Wikipedia guideline. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
[[Category:Wikipedia {{{1}}}s|Lyrics and poetry]]
20th and 21st century lyrics and poetry should not generally be submitted to Wikipedia. This is primarily because most songwriters and poets have not released their lyrics under an open content license and therefore their inclusion violates their copyright.
Do not write an article consisting only of lyrics — this would be considered a primary source, and may if it is GFDL-compatible free content, be transwikied to Wikisource. Rather, an encyclopedic article should have an analytical framework that describes the song and its cultural impact. Quotations of the song within this analytical framework can fall into the fair use (and fair dealing) provisions within copyright law. However, how much of a song you can quote is open to interpretation.
There are some exceptions however:
- Lyrics whose copyright has expired, e.g. Three Blind Mice.
- National anthems.