Chris Rush Cohen blog has the full scoop on the JibJab “This Land” parody video case settling. Here is a tidbit:
The JibJab case is officially over via settlement, with full-on victory for the Jib Jab crew. As it turns out Ludlow, the company that threatened to sue JibJab over the use of the Woody Guthrie song “This Land is Our Land,” no longer owned the copyright in the song anyway. The copyright expired in 1973, duh!….
You’ve got to be kidding me. They sent out a cease and desist letter for an expired copyright?
The best cheat sheet for determining whether a copyright is expired is Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States via the Cornell site (PDF).
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