# How do you find out who owns the rights to something?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-out-who-owns-the-rights-to-something/117599>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 6, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-out-who-owns-the-rights-to-something/117599 "2002-07-06T04:50:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-out-who-owns-the-rights-to-something/117599/1 "2002-07-06T04:50:48Z")

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If you want to find out who owns the rights to a TV show or movie, how do you go about doing it?

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**Author:** ![TridCloudwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TridCloudwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TridCloudwalker)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-out-who-owns-the-rights-to-something/117599/2 "2002-07-06T06:02:23Z")

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Copy it and see who sues. 😃

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**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-out-who-owns-the-rights-to-something/117599/3 "2002-07-06T06:21:41Z")

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From the [US Copyright Office](http://www.loc.gov/copyright/): They have a [search page](http://www.copyright.gov/records/) where you can search for copyright information.

Also, according to their [FAQ page](http://www.copyright.gov/faq.html): “If you are not certain about the ownership or have other related questions, you may wish to request that the Copyright Office conduct a search of its records for a fee of $75 per hour. Additional information can be found in Circular 22.”

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-find-out-who-owns-the-rights-to-something/117599/4 "2002-07-06T07:10:32Z")

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Assume that anything first published in the U.S. from 1964 onward (except by the federal government) is still under copyright. Assume that anything first published in the U.S. before 1923 is out of copyright and in the public domain. Assume that you better do your research on anything first published in the U.S. 1923-1963.