For my ebook, I want to use song titles as titles for each of my chapters. Does anyone know whether or not I can do this without risk getting sued? I once read that a title cannot be copyrighted. This applied to novels and screenplays. Does it apply for songs also?
In an ideal world, you'll contact a lawyer about this. Context has a lot to do with what you can and can't do. Will your chapter be something like "Hey, Jude!" or "Blah Blah by So and So?" Also, how unique is the song title? I'd cover all bases by putting a footnote in the chapter that gives credit.
Here are a couple of examples: One chapter title will be "Invincible" and in the chapter, i'll give the reader the sense that they are invincible.....So i'd say something like, 'while many of you recognizse our chapter's title as a hit by pat benetar during the 1980s..... Then another example, i'll title a chapter "eighteen" then, after that, i'd put a hyphen and have alice cooper's name next to it. In the chapter, i'll talk about when I was 18 years old. I suppose that none of these songs I want to use have unique titles. Just want to make sure it is ok...I feel that by titling these chapters after songs will give the reader another layer of depth, especially if they have heard the songs.
I'm no lawyer, but it looks fine to me. You're not using any lyrics (that's where the trouble usually starts).
I would agree with market junction, it looks fine to me as you are not heavily using the titles/lyrics of the songs etc. I cannot be held responsible for any outcomes that you may encounter
There are broad allowances for literary allusion/citation, and the title of many songs have been included in many works. For example, how could you write a music review without mentioning song titles? Provide a bibliographic citation of each song as footnotes/and or appendix and you will adhere to time-honored conventions. As previous posters have indicated, this reassurance is from a non-lawyer and can not substitute for the opinion of someone professionally equipped to understand recent royalty/internet regulations which may have changed the "Fair Use" statutes.
If you are in the US, why not call the Copyright Office and ask them? I have found them to be quite helpful. The answer might already be on their site somewhere.