DAY-O! (Banana Boat Song) Royalties Question

Cafe Society
1

Okay. Most of us have heard the “take-off” on this old Harry Belafonte tune re-written to reflect the war we are waging against Osama. (“Daylight come and we flatten your home”}.

I would like to know if this song is now considered “public domain” or do Harry B and the writer still receive royalties from it, even though it has been “re-done”?

I was always under the impression that as long as the copyright is renewed, the song remains the “property” of the writer and the artist who performed it. Is that correct?

During my student days, I worked as a deejay at my hometown radio station, and periodically we would have to fill out what was known as an “ASCAP” log in which we would record what records we played during that day, and the artists received their royalties based on this log. (Sorry, but I don’t remember what ASCAP stands for - American Society something…Too much S,D and R&R ;)) Is this still being done?

Thanks

Quasi

2

Royalties go to the writer of the song via ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Artists, and Publishers). I don’t know if the song is public domain or not, but for any parody version, royaties would go to the songwriter and the performer of the parody. If Harry didn’t write the song, he gets no additional cut if the parody is played.

The song is property of the songwriter, while the performance is property of the performer. You can use a song as parody as long as you pay the proper songwriter royalties (Acuff-Rose vs. 2 Live Crew).

3

What I wanna know is, does the songwriter get royalties every time somebody chants “DAAAAAY-OH!” at a baseball game?