Music

Using Works from the Public Domain

and Elsewhere

Public Domain or No?

Frosty the Snowman

Deck the Halls

Amazing Grace

Happy Birthday

America the Beautiful

Happy Birthday Tune traces to 1893, with different lyrics

Piano arrangement published in 1935

Would qualify for protection, but wasn’t registered

ARGUMENT: Music is public domain

If lyrics added before 1923, then is public domain

Many conflicting accounts & old books, with and without authors

The Music Publisher Helps new songwriters get their work known

Make original fixed version

Register that song with other permission groups

Market the song and the artist to recording labels

Give permission for theatres to use songs as part of plays

Give permission for tv shows, films, video games

Sells copies of the sheet music

Performance Rights Society ASCAP, BMI

Give permission to perform an existing song live

Give permission to play a specific recording on the radio, as a ringtone, etc

Radio stations & Universities often get a “blanket license” which is permission for anything they control- per year

Mechanical Rights Company Harry Fox Agency

Controls the right to record and distribute audio recordings of a song (in an album, in a soundtrack, as a sample in another song)

Also commercials, but they have a larger fee

Mechanical Rights Company

COMPULSORY LICENSE- once a song has been recorded, anyone else is able to pay royalties and record it too

Can’t change song

Songwriter can’t say no

The Record Company Receives permission to make a recording

Sells the recording

Pays royalties to publisher and artist

Makes recording available to performance rights society

Receives royalty from fees to play on radio

The Coffee Shop- rights?

Have the radio on

Play a CD

Hire a live musician

The School- rights?

Play songs on the campus radio station

Play songs in the school orchestra

The Compilation Album

Synchronization Rights

Permission to use a song in a tv show or film

Applies when there is video and audio

If you record your own version of the song- you are done

If you are using an existing recording- you also need “master use”

permission from the record company

Public Domain & Fair Use

Can belong to song, recording, both or neither

Much more complicated after Golan v. Holder

Works the same as other public domain material

Same four-part evaluation standard

Rumor that clips shorter than 30 seconds are free is WRONG

The Commercial

Parody and Criticism

The Theme Song