Andy Stitzer said:
Isn't happy bday still under copyrite?
Yes, as many, many TV shows, movies and radio broadcasters have found out.
I assume the huge number of Google hits promising lists of "public domain music" and songs were no help,
Robio? What about the vast numbers of folksongs? The million-selling arrangements that top artists made of such songs over and over may still be under copyright, but what they did, you and your kids can do. But do your homework; It may be a centuries old melody, but the version you pick may have had modern words set to it, and they'd be protected.
Finally, you might investigate
creative commons music. It's a scheme that trys to license/share freely for worthy purposes, while protecting creators' rights to profit from their creations. In that regard, a request on the letterhead of a charity for permission to make non-commercial use of their copyrighted material may very well get a yes, even from a big, bad ol' record company. I usually found the book and magazine publishers I approached on a similar basis were quite responsive.
And a PS: Because it determines who has the right to make a copy (the copyright-holder), it's 'copy
right. A copy/
writer writes advertising material, and a copy
rite would be the prayer you offer to the Great God Xerox before pressing his buttons.
