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public domain question

K

kazze

I have read that anything written before 1923 is considered public domain...that means I can take the sheet music and record it myself with no problems...however...Happy Birthday was written decades before that year (in fact I think it was in the later 1800's)...how is this so?

Star Spangled Banner...is that public domain? I am guessing it is but am never 100% sure.


Thanks.
 
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Written works become public domain 75 years after the death of the author. So if somebody wrote something in 1923, but lived another 50 years, you'd have to wait until 2048.

A lot of classics have fallen into the public domain. In horror, Poe, Bierce and Lovecraft are in the PD.

Scott
 
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It's worth pointing out that copyright periods vary a great deal. The rules for songs, for example, are different to those for, say, novels. And the rules change from country to country. If you're planning to distribute in more than one territory you need to ensure you have clearances in all of them (a work may have copyright protection in multiple territories and still be copyrighted in some while public domain in others). It's horribly complicated, which is why sorting this stuff is a specialist job. And it's why it's often easier just to buy rights.
 
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