The Ludlow Music folks have dropped their case against Jibjab after lawyers for the latter discovered that — whoops! — Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” is actually in the public domain.
While researching the case, the EFF discovered that Woody Guthrie published a songbook in 1945 that included “This Land Is Your Land.” At that time, copyright holders owned their work for 28 years, and could renew the copyright once during the first term, for another 28 years. When Guthrie published the songbook, that “started the clock ticking on the 28 years,” Schultz said. Guthrie never renewed it, meaning the terms of the copyright expired in 1973.
Ludlow, meanwhile, registered the song under copyright in 1956 as an original copyright registration, not the renewal. The company was apparently unaware that because Guthrie had already published the song, the terms of copyright began in 1945, not 1956, Schultz said. “The clock starts ticking when either the papers are filed or you publish,” Schultz said.
Ludlow then renewed the copyright in 1984, which was 11 years too late, he said. The EFF found a copy of the songbook at the Library of Congress.
Heh. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of IP Hoarders.
(via Les)