Different cartoon studios (Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, etc.) have a library of standard sound effects they use- the “punch”, the “explosion”, etc. Are these sounds copywritten?
Lump, old buddy, it’s copyrighted, not copywritten. Proceed…
Yes they are. I know this because I used to have a library of Hanna-Barbara sounds on an old laptop, and they were copyrighted H-B Productions. I assume it’s similar to copyrighting a song.
Your particular files are copyrighted, but it is impossible to copyright a generic sound (i.e. a slap).
BTW, you might enjoy a film called “The Foley Artist” where the art of producing sound effects is explored in a humorous way. 2 Foley Artists are dubbing sounds for a fight scene. In the process, they end up beating the crap out of each other and destroy the whole studio, producing far more mayhem than is appearing onscreen. Very amusing, I think it was nominated for an Oscar for best short.