# Public Domain Copyright **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2001, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-domain-copyright/95698 "2001-11-28T14:18:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-domain-copyright/95698/1 "2001-11-28T14:18:37Z")
Hello All, Myself and my friend are writing a short movie. His brother is a film student and liked the idea enough so that if we ever finish it, he will make it as one of his projects for his degree. We were discussing music for it, and thought of a few pieces of music for it. Unfortunately, most of our ideas would be impossible to pay royalties on (making the film on a student budget and all). I was thinking about how some poetry can be used freely as it is in the Public Domain (the writers long since dead) and was wondering if the same could be applied to music. I know William Orbit didnt have to pay any royalties on his last album because all the music he remixed was by long dead composers whose estates didnt hold copyright. Is this correct? Can I use any music that is in the public domain and not have to pay a penny?? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-domain-copyright/95698/2 "2001-11-28T14:49:49Z")
The facts you gave are unclear to me. But if the music is truly in the public domain, you don’t have to pay royalties. Who would you pay the royalties to? No oone holds the copyright, if it is in the public domain. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2001, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-domain-copyright/95698/3 "2001-11-28T15:14:55Z")
If the music is indeed in the public domain, you can use it freely (one reason why Hollywood used to like classical music for low-budged pictures – they didn’t have to pay Beethovan any royalties). A good rule of thumb is that anything written before 1925 is PD. However, a **performance** of the music may be under copyright. If you want to use, say, the New York Philharmonic’s rendition of Beethovan’s Fifth (Leonard Bernstein conducting), you need to pay for the rights. If you have a musician friend who’s willing to help out, he or she can play the music and you’d be in the clear. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-domain-copyright/95698/4 "2001-11-28T15:22:11Z")
Music is trickier than other intellectual property. It involves copyright and mechanical rights. The former covers the composition (musical notes and words); the latter covers an artist’s version/recording/rendition of said musical notes and words. The songwriter holds the copyright; the recording artist (or his/her recording company) usually holds the mechanical rights of their particular version/recording/rendition of the song. So, sure you can use a Mozart symphony in your movie without paying royalties to WAM or his estate because the composition is in public domain. But if you want to use a recording of, say, Ukelele Ike and His Jamboree Jug Band playing that Mozart symphony, – and Uke’s mechanical rights are still valid – you’ll owe Uke (or more likely, his recording company) royalies. NOTE: I just previewed and saw that RealityChuck checked in with much of the same info as me, but I’m gonna post anyway! Hey Chuck, I’m pretty sure that 1923, not 1925, is the PD rule of thumb date. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-domain-copyright/95698/5 "2001-11-28T15:22:16Z")
Thanks RealityChuck, thats what I was looking for. Does anyone know a site where I can check if something is in the Public domain? and as for playing the music, we’d be doing it ourselves, with a few friends. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-domain-copyright/95698/6 "2001-11-28T15:53:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Does anyone know a site where I can check if something is in the Public domain? Easiest way is to just pick music composed before 1923 (that date is probably more correct than mine). If the composor died in 1918, you know you’re safe. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-domain-copyright/95698/7 "2001-11-28T20:28:01Z")
[http://www.pdinfo.com](http://www.pdinfo.com) lists public domain songs.