Public Domain

Any of you who have ever discussed copyright, public domain and fair use know that the conversations can quickly become heated and distraught, culminating in people attacking each other with Shakespearian insults, rotten bananas and copies of AACR2. My particular gripe is with people who discover songs they did not write and then copyright the songs in their own names. While the primary purpose of copyright law is more to promote and share knowledge than it is to protect the interests of the people who created their various works, copyrighting someone else's work (even if the authorship is unknown) seems dangerously close to plagarism.

At this time, songs that are published before 1923 are in the Public Domain-- that is, anyone can perform and record them. There may be particular versions of these songs that someone has copyrighted, and it's pretty easy to change a chord or phrase, then claim it as your own arrangement. Some songs have managed to have their copyright extended. I won't belabor the Happy Birthday issue again, but you can read about it in an earlier post here: Happy Birthday to--whoops!

While not definitive, here are some sources to help you determine whether or not the songs you want to perform are in the Public Domain:

Public Domain Music
PD Info
MusicEase Traditional Songbook for Children and Adults

If you spot inconsistencies or things that are just plain wrong, let me know in the comments. I've already found one: in a couple of these lists, "All the Pretty Little Horses" is cited as a public domain song. In contrast, my Rise Up Singing book says that the copyright is 1934, renewed in 1962 and collected by John and Alan Lomax. However, it also says "International copyright secured" when there's no such thing as an international copyright.

Have your eyes begun to glaze over yet?

Update: One story of many demonstrating how copyright and public domain laws do not add up to an exact science: JibJab Media, Inc. v. Ludlow Music, Inc.

Disney (TM) can just deal with it

Video: Hijacked Disney Characters Explain Copyright

I wasn't able to watch the entire 10 minute film through because the spliced clips of different characters explaining copyright laws and fair use policies made my teeth rattle in my skull. Still, I'm passing along the article and link to you because copyright, fair use and public domain issues are important to me. You've probably noticed that I stretch the "fair use" clause quite a bit for my children's book parodies. My blog has a Creative Commons license, too. As long as you're not making a profit off of my work (though really, someone should), you're welcome to use the items knocking around in my virtual treasure-chest of stories and songs.

The Simon Sisters sing for us again

Currently, the audio cassette is the only way I have to listen to The Simon Sisters Sing for Children. Thanks to my father for providing me with music!

This post is for all of you, but especially for ABCGirl. At some point last year I told her that if I ever found access to the technology that transfers vinyl music to compact disc, I would send her a compact disc copy of The Simon Sisters Sing for Children (released on Columbia Records). While the technology is out there, finding acquaintances with the necessary gear has been more difficult than I expected. I sent a request through iTunes to get ahold of the music somehow. While the album I requested is still unavailable, the album by Lucy and Carly Simon called Winkin' Blinkin' is available for download. This is good news for me and potentially good news for you, too. I am glad to have the recording, but I still want digital versions of ""The Lobster Quadrille" and "A Pavane for the Nursery." The former song I can play on guitar with 4 chords. The latter is filled with chords I suspect I don't yet know how to play.

Other music I've enjoyed recently:

"Maggie Campbell"--Dave Alvin (from Public Domain: Songs From the Wild Land)
"Radio Operator"--Rosanne Cash (from Black Cadillac)
"Stay on the Ride"--Patty Griffin (from Children Running Through)
--"Nightclubbing"--Iggy Pop (from The Idiot)
"Alabama Bound/Boll Weevil"--Odetta (from Lookin' for a Home)

New birthday tune

I have decided that my new Happy Birthday song, the kind of song that I can sing and play at children's birthday parties (you over-10 set are really bitter, did you know that?), will be to the tune of an American cowboy lament in 3/4 time called "The Streets of Laredo." The song is in the public domain, and the tune is simultaneously mournful and perky. Here are the first two verses of the traditional lyrics:

As I walked out in the streets of Laredo,
As I walked out in Laredo one day,
I spied a young cowboy all wrapped in white linen.
All wrapped in white linen and cold as the clay.

"I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy,"
These words he did say, as I boldly stepped by.
"Come sit here beside me and hear my sad story,
For I'm shot in the heart and I surely will die."

I think this song is just begging for a makeover as a birthday commemoration. I'm not happy with what I have so far, but it would be great to have something by Saturday. I'm going to a birthday party, and I'm bringing my guitar.

Happy Birthday to--whoops!

You probably know that the ubiquitous, "Happy Birthday," created by Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill, is under copyright protection. However, it should have expired in 1991. The Copyright Act of 1976 extended it, and then the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended it again. At this point, "Happy Birthday" won't enter the public domain until 2030. In the meantime, you're allowed to sing it informally at small parties, but not in any public venue without paying licensing fees.

I'm no fan of the "Happy Birthday" song owned by AOL Time Warner. I like simple lyrics well enough, but I think the melody is all wrong. It's too easy to sing "Happy Birthday" out of tune. Let AOL Time Warner have their 2 million per year royalties in USD. I'm not going to bicker about copyright laws simply because they don't suit my specific purposes at certain times.*

I want to create a song that replaces "Happy Birthday." It won't bankrupt the copyright holders, but it'll make their claims obsolete. The new song will be sonorous, melodic, anything you like, as long as it sounds good and stays duty free. Then, I'll copyright it so that no one else can. Immediately afterward, I'll give it to the world for free. Anyone who tries to make money off the song gets sued and flogged.

I don't have to create this song all by myself. You're welcome to send in ideas with the understanding that nobody makes money from the song. (I just know that Limpy99 won't be able to resist. I am crafty that way.)



*Hey, stay away from my iTunes folder.