[78-L] Happy Court Day to You

[Don Cox]

On 14/06/2013, Cary Ginell wrote:

> I don't think restaurants have any clue that the song is copyrighted,
> and Warner/Chappell is in such a disarray now that they can't go after
> every restaurant that decides to sing it. I doubt very much that
> restaurants are waving the red flag at W/C, daring them to charge.
> It's just part of the growing ignorance of copyright law in the
> entertainment world. There are tens of thousands of young composers
> who are sampling existing, copyrighted compositions without getting
> permission, and when they are asked about it, they get huffy and say
> it is their First Amendment right to use it, claiming "free speech."
> 99% of Americans have no concept of what copyright means - literally,
> "the right to copy." If the H.B. case goes to court and the court
> determines that all of the money W/C has been charging people for a
> public domain song for the last 78 years has been a fraud, can you
> imagine the implications? Cary Ginell
> 
When did the composer and lyricist die? 

How long after the author's death does copyright persist in the US
nowadays ?

I find it hard to believe that this song, as we know it, was composed by
somebody who died less than 75 years ago.

Is anyone claiming copyright on Stephen Foster's songs ?

Regards
-- 
Don Cox
doncox at enterprise.net