The JibJab “This Land Is Your Land” controversy (see here and here and several posts in between) is over: It turns out, thanks to an investigation by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, that the song may well be in the public domain — and thus free for all to use — because the original copyright had not been properly renewed. (Under the pre-1978 copyright law, a copyright had to be renewed after the first 28 years; that’s not the case any more for new works.)
Ludlow Music still claims that they do own the copyright, but they have decided to withdraw their objections “to avoid the expense and difficulties of litigation.” JibJab had earlier filed a lawsuit for declaratory judgment to establish their right to use the song, and that lawsuit has now been settled in JibJab’s favor. See this Electronic Frontier Foundation press release and this Wired News story.
Thanks to readers Robert Schwartz and Matthew Sheffield for the pointers.
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