As an author and former journalist, I thought I was pretty well versed in the fair-use defense.  I thought that any short quotation from a copyrighted work is protected under fair use,  and I always assumed that a single line from a song would easily qualify as a short quotation.<p>But this article (and the article it links to, &quot;Never quote a rock lyric in a book unless you&#x27;re rich&quot;) suggest that you can be held legally liable for quoting even a single line from a song without permission.<p>That definitely seems to go against the spirit of fair use.