{"id":26014,"date":"2022-12-27T07:46:33","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T07:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/27\/tom-lehrer-puts-whatever-he-hadnt-already-donated-to-the-public-domain-into-the-public-domain\/"},"modified":"2022-12-27T07:46:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T07:46:33","slug":"tom-lehrer-puts-whatever-he-hadnt-already-donated-to-the-public-domain-into-the-public-domain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/27\/tom-lehrer-puts-whatever-he-hadnt-already-donated-to-the-public-domain-into-the-public-domain\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Lehrer Puts Whatever He Hadn\u2019t Already Donated To The Public Domain Into The Public Domain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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from the a-true-hero<\/i> dept<\/h3>\n

Hopefully, you already know who Tom Lehrer is, and are already familiar with his music, but if you\u2019re somehow in the dark, I suggest you read this excellent profile<\/a>, or visit his unofficial official YouTube channel<\/a>. Or, visit his website<\/a> where you can download everything for free (he even begs you not<\/em> to send him money).<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve written about Lehrer twice before, both regarding his views on effectively releasing his music in the public domain. Back in 2014, we wrote about how a fan had basically put all of his works on YouTube, and then contacted Lehrer to apologize. Lehrer told him there was nothing to apologize for: he was glad the works were out there. The fan then asked if he needed to do something to make sure that no one would ever copyright strike the videos, and Lehrer again says not to worry, as far as he\u2019s concerned it\u2019s all in the public domain, and he has no heirs to cause problems after he dies:<\/p>\n

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While Lehrer has made startlingly little effort to ensure a future for his work, a handful of superfans have filled in the gap. One is Erik Meyn, a Norwegian who manages the\u00a0Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel<\/a>\u00a0on YouTube, a feed of performance videos and playlists that has received more than 10 million views since 2007. Meyn originally posted content to the channel without Lehrer\u2019s permission and called him from overseas in December 2008 to apologize, a conversation he later posted on the\u00a0\u201cTom Lehrer!\u201d Facebook page<\/a>. An excerpt:<\/em><\/p>\n

TL: Well, you see, I\u2019m fine with that channel.<\/em><\/p>\n

EM: You\u2019re very kind. But my question is: Who in your family will take care of your copyright and your songs in the distant future?<\/em><\/p>\n

TL: I don\u2019t have a family.<\/em><\/p>\n

EM: OK, but what do you think will happen to the channel and your songs? And if you have someone who will act on your behalf, could you give them my name in case they\u2019d want the channel taken down?<\/em><\/p>\n

TL: Yes, but there\u2019s no need to remove that channel.<\/em><\/p>\n

EM: I was just wondering what will happen in the future, because you\u2019re certainly going to continue to sell records.<\/em><\/p>\n

TL: Well, I don\u2019t need to make money after I\u2019m dead. These things will be taken care of.<\/em><\/p>\n

EM: I feel like I gave away some of your songs to public domain without even asking you, and that wasn\u2019t very nice of me.<\/em><\/p>\n

TL: But I\u2019m fine with that, you know.<\/em><\/p>\n

EM: Will you establish any kind of foundation or charity or something like that?<\/em><\/p>\n

TL: No, I won\u2019t. They\u2019re mostly rip-offs.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Then, in 2020, we wrote about him again, noting that he had put up a website where he had announced that all of his lyrics<\/em> had been officially dedicated to the public domain<\/a>, and he encouraged people to do what they wanted with them. At the time, we noted that this did not cover the actual music, but Lehrer had suggested he would add that at a future time.<\/p>\n

Apparently, that future time has come. Lehrer has expanded the letter on his website, now dated to November of 2022, even if much of it is identical to what we wrote about two years ago. But the big difference is that he\u2019s now including all of the music in the public domain dedication:<\/p>\n

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I, Tom Lehrer, and the Tom Lehrer Trust 2007, hereby grant the following permissions:
<\/em>
All copyrights to lyrics or music written or composed by me have been relinquished, and therefore such songs are now in the public domain. All of my songs that have never been copyrighted, having been available for free for so long, are now also in the public domain.
<\/em>
The latter includes all lyrics which I have written to music by others, although the music to such parodies, if copyrighted by their composers, are of course not included without permission of their copyright owners. The translated songs on this website may be found on YouTube in their original languages.
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Performing and recording rights to all of my songs are included in this permission. Translation rights are also included.
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In particular, permission is hereby granted to anyone to set any of these lyrics to their own music, or to set any of this music to their own lyrics, and to publish or perform their parodies or distortions of these songs without payment or fear of legal action.
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Some recording, movie, and television rights to songs written by me are merely licensed non-exclusively by me to recording, movie, or TV companies. All such rights are now released herewith and therefore do not require any permission from me or from Maelstrom Music, which is merely me in another hat, nor from the recording, movie, or TV companies involved.
<\/em>
In short, I no longer retain any rights to any of my songs.<\/em>

So help yourselves, and don\u2019t send me any money.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As I said, much of this statement reflects what was on the site before, but now it covers the music as well as the lyrics. He\u2019s also basically put up everything you need. You can download the music as MP3s, you can stream albums, you can download lyrics as PDF files. It\u2019s\u2026 pretty comprehensive. And pretty impressive.<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s also this semi-ominous warning:<\/p>\n

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THIS WEBSITE WILL BE SHUT DOWN AT SOME DATE IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE, SO IF YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD ANYTHING, DON\u2019T WAIT TOO LONG.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I hope that someone (hey, Internet Archive?) is making sure that this page, and all the music is preserved long after Lehrer removes it.<\/p>\n

Either way, it\u2019s another lovely gift, and it\u2019s a strange one, given that in these days of ever expanding copyright terms, most artists never live to see any of their works enter the public domain. Lehrer should be celebrated for his music and wit, of course, but also for making sure his works are really in the public domain while he\u2019s still alive, which is an amazing contribution to public culture.<\/p>\n

Of course, as we\u2019ve discussed for years, there is no official<\/em> way under US copyright law to put works in the public domain. The best<\/em> you can do is effectively make clear that you are giving up any rights to enforce your copyrights, which is what Lehrer has done here. It\u2019s a shame that US law does not allow for an official public domain dedication, but maybe one day that will happen.<\/p>\n

\nFiled Under: copyright<\/a>, music<\/a>, public domain<\/a>, tom lehrer<\/a>
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