Today I thought I would share information on songs in public domain. Songs in public domain are free to use without having copyright permission. Specifically, this means that the sheet music is free to use, but you have to make your own recording. These songs are ones that were published before 1923.
New recordings of the same piece that are in public domain are protected under copyright law. You may wonder what all of this means. Here is an example...
I wanted my second grade class to sing Jingle Bells for our Christmas show. Jingle Bells is in the public domain since it was published in 1857. My husband recorded Jingle Bells on his keyboard for me. He sequenced this piece by playing each instrumental part with the keyboard--the piano, bass, drums, bells, strings. He made his own arrangement of the song for us to sing to. Therefore, I am following the copyright law of public domain songs.
I could not, however, play a CD recording of Jingle Bells sung by Harry Connick, Jr. and have my students sing over top of that. If that would happen, then I would need Harry's permission to use that arrangement.
Here is a link of various songs that are in the public domain: http://www.pdinfo.com/list.htm
This is a nice website because it categorizes songs by topic, with the alphabet, by sheet music, books, etc. If you are lucky enough to have someone that can arrange songs for you, then there is a lot to pick from. If you ever are in need of an arrangement of a particular song, please e-mail me and my husband can sequence it for you!
References
Simpson, C. (2005). Copyright for schools: A practical guide (4th ed.). Worthington, OH:
Linworth.
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8 comments:
I find everything related to copyright to be extremely confusing due to the fact that some things can be used, other things cannot. Some types of media it depends on a specific year, but when the media changes the year changes as well. I get what you are saying about using "Jingle Bells" since it was written before the specific date, but you can't use the recorded one since you'd need written permission. Having to follow such strict guidelines when it comes to music makes me not want to use music with my students. Personally, it seems like more of a hassel. I do question who the "copyright police" are? Not that I'm about to run out and break copyright, but how are violaters caught or determined? Is there someone that visits schools from time to time to see if copyright laws are being broken?
-Jamie Lewis
This is an interesting issue that rocked my school last year due to an end-of-year PowerPoint. Traditionally, at the end of fifth grade we have parent volunteers who complile a 1/2 hour PowerPoint slideshow of pictures from the fifth grade year. Each slide is set to music (usually modern songs that the students know). This year, we were originally told that we could not do the PowerPoint because of the music on the slides, and the parents were in uproar. After months of researching copyright laws and going through multiple hoops with administration the parents were able to get the permission needed to create the PowerPoint. However, the PTA usually sold DVD copies of the PowerPoint to cover the cost of the show, and this raised another copyright issue. In the end, the PTA gave the students the show as a gift. I thought your topic was interesting in light of these recent issues at my school, and I look forward to getting more information on this topic so we can avoid running into this situation again!
All these different blogs are opening my eyes to things I never really thought about before. That's awesome that your husband can arrange the music for you. Sounds like you guys are very talented!
Hi,
I'm really interested in this topic especially when it comes to teenagers. Thanks for creating it!!!
I'm wondering how hard it is to obtain permission from a recording artist? Has anyone ever received permission from a recording artist to use their song for a school musical or PowerPoint for an assembly? Just wondering..
This is very interesting. I am still wondering if it is okay for me to play a music cd in my classroom during our writing time. The cds are all owned by me and are of mostly classical recordings. Have you come across anything in your research that tells the "rules" about that? Thank you,
Kristin Camburn
You are so fortunate that your husband can do that for you! He sounds very talented.
Thanks for the website! I have my honors English classes do a project where they choose a poem and a song that have the same theme and they compare and contrast them in an essay and presentation to the class. A lot of them are very creative in their choices and explanations! I always have them give credit where credit is due! Hopefully I'm doing this correctly!
Jessica
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