# How to determine whether a work is in the public domain

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-determine-whether-a-work-is-in-the-public-domain/434937>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 25, 2008, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-determine-whether-a-work-is-in-the-public-domain/434937 "2008-01-25T10:28:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-determine-whether-a-work-is-in-the-public-domain/434937/1 "2008-01-25T10:28:04Z")

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Is there any _easy_ way to determine whether or not a work (in this case a piece of music) is in the public domain?

I want to do something based on a performance (a new performance to be arranged by me - so it’s the publication of the manuscript that matters, I guess) of _Fanfare For The Common Man_ - it was composed in 1942 or 1943. The law is defined as such a web of statements, counterexamples and exceptions, I can’t actually work out what it means.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-determine-whether-a-work-is-in-the-public-domain/434937/2 "2008-01-25T13:33:20Z")

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You’re in “no man’s land,” public domain wise. But for something as successful as \*  
Fanfare for the Common Man\*, I would think that Copeland renewed the copyright, so it’s not PD.

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**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-determine-whether-a-work-is-in-the-public-domain/434937/3 "2008-01-27T09:17:14Z")

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It is in copyright. One way to find out is via the Harry Fox Agency’s [Songfile website](https://www.harryfox.com/public/songfile.jsp) . HFA administers “Mechanical” copyrights - the fee you pay to record a new version of a piece of music.

A search for “Fanfare for the Common Man” by “Aaron Copeland” gave the following information:

HFA Song Code: F0954A  
Publisher: BOOSEY & HAWKES INC  
Represented By HFA

A public performance (no recording) requires a negotiated fee. Boosey and Hawkes actually has a [flow chart](http://www.boosey.com/pages/licensing/flowchart.asp) to determine how to proceed. Good luck!