Can I Change the Lyrics in My Cover Song?

Short Answer

No. One of the limitations of Cover Song Licensing is that changes to the lyrics or fundamental melody of the song are not allowed. If you want to move ahead with distributing a cover song where you've changed the lyrics, you can use our Custom Licensing service to have one of our agents reach out to the rightsholders and negotiate the best price for your project.

Long Answer

When you change the lyrics to a song you didn't write yourself, it then becomes what's called a "derivative work". A "derivative work" is any song that takes a preexisting song and uses part of that material to create a new composition or sound recording. It differs from a cover song, which is a more straightforward interpretation of an existing composition without any significant alterations to the melody or lyrics. Derivatives can be any type of change, like translations, samples or interpolations, mashups, medleys, parodies, or even when you've written entirely new lyrics. If you're using any part of an existing work to create something new, it will generally be considered a derivative work.

When you hire us for Cover Song Licensing, we follow a statute in US Copyright Law that doesn't allow for derivative works to be licensed, so the only way to get a lyric change cleared is through direct negotiations with the rightsholder of the composition. This is typically the composer or their publisher, and you can submit a free copyright search to our team  to find out who that is. If you want to move ahead with distributing a cover song where you've changed the lyrics, you can use our Custom Licensing service to have one of our agents reach out to the rightsholders and negotiate the best price for your project.