Production Glossary
Public Domain
By definition public domain music is any piece of music that is not private property. In other words, if nobody can legally lay claim to the music, it is in the public domain. But that is where things get tricky. Defining public domain music is easy. Identifying it can sometimes be incredibly difficult. Some examples of public domain songs are many classical songs (bach, beethoven, etc.), many Christian hymns, and many traditional Christmas songs.Copyright is granted for a limited number of years. Most public domain songs are categorized as public domain music because their term of copyright protection has expired. In the United States, any piece of music published before 1923 is rightfully in the public domain. Other music may fall into the public domain much earlier. Generally, any music written and published for the United Stated government is considered public domain music from the start.
One of the difficulties in assessing whether or not to use a piece of public domain music is that not all countries recognize the same set of standards. Under U.S. copyright law, a song becomes public domain music based on the number of years from the original date of copyright or the renewal of the copyright. Many foreign countries respect copyright based on a number of years after the death of the composer. The result is that a particular song can become public domain music in one country several years before it is public domain music in another country.
What is the purpose of public domain music? A study issued by the U.S. Copyright Office prior to the passage of the Copyright Act of 1976 cited the following:
It is generally believed to be to the benefit of the public that once
the work has been created, and the author protected for a sufficient
time to have produced the original incentive, the work should become
available to be freely used by all.
In other words, public domain music is designed to benefit the public, but only after the composer has had ample time to reap the benefit of their creation.
As previously mentioned, identifying public domain music is the tricky part, but it is the also the step in the process that will keep you out of legal trouble. Much of what some people believe to be public domain music is in question due to vague and indefinite claims of copyright. Further, much of what some consider to be public domain music falls into the category of “who knows?” due to poor record keeping and failure to maintain complete public archives.
There are some sources that can help you determine if a particular song is public domain music. They are The Harry Fox Agency, the U.S. Copyright Office, the Library of Congress, Ascap, Bmi, and good old fashioned research. If you can find sheet music with a publishing date prior to 1923, then you know that the song is public domain music in the United States.
Lastly, many production music libraries like Royalty Free Music Library have already done the research on a lot of this for you. Lots of public domain music has already been arranged and recorded and is ready for you to license and download immediately. Visit our royalty free song search page and do a search for public domain to see a current listing of our royalty free public domain music.
It is important to mention that just because a particular song is considered public domain music, that does not mean that any recording or performance of that song is public domain. There is no such thing as public domain when it comes to sound recordings in the United States. If you want use a recording of a public domain song, you will need to record it, hire someone to record it, or license a pre-recorded version from a royalty free music library.
