Last year’s holiday blog post featured the beloved film, It’s a Wonderful Life, a movie that has fallen in and out of copyright several times. The elements of Christmas and copyright appear to be connected often, leading to more curiosity about all things copyright Christmas.
Done with finals and care to go caroling? Want to bottle your own Christmas spirits with the image of Santa? Planning to use holiday songs in some holiday-themed bingo? If caroling or holiday music bingo (holiday spirits optional) are on your agenda, know that not all festive tunes performed at Christmas are all free use for us to enjoy. While it is true that a neighborly sing along or family gathering doesn’t rise to the level of a public performance, requiring permission to use, it is interesting to note the songs which have entered the public domain, and which are under copyright and require permission.
Perennial favorites such as Deck the Halls, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and Jingle Bells are all in the public domain. However, songs such as Frosty the Snowman, created in 1950 by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins remains protected by copyright.
For a list of Christmas songs in the public domain, check out the list from PD Info or ChoralWiki. The United States Copyright Office Public Catalog shows all the copyrights registered with the US copyright office from 1978 onwards.
