Enjoy a public domain Christmas

'Tis the season to be jolly. That familiar line actually comes from a song titled, “Deck the Halls,” which you have no doubt sung a hundred times, as I have too. Just the mention of the name gets the tune running through my head. And why not? It's a holiday staple that plays on radio, television, and in elevators all over the world during this time of year.

Of course, there's a reason “Deck the Halls,” is so popular. It's in the public domain. Because of its status as a song in the public domain there is no royalty to pay for singing it, or recording your kids singing it and posting it to YouTube, or breaking out into a chorus of it while you're being interviewed on national television.

You see songs are intellectual property. They are owned by somebody. Or at least a lot of them are. And many of those song owners (people like Sting, Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, or Adele) earn their living by collecting royalties for the songs they wrote. Each time someone plays their song on a jukebox, or on the radio, or sings it on a show – the writer collects a royalty payment.

At least that is the way it is supposed to work. In many cases people use their favorite songs as soundtracks to homemade videos of their wedding, or of their children opening Christmas presents, or of dad shoveling snow from the driveway – without realizing they are actually stealing something of value.

It's a little like the story of Napster, but on a smaller scale.

That brings us back to “Deck the Halls.” You see, “Deck the Halls,” was written a long, long time ago. So long ago in fact that there is no copyright on it. Which is what makes “Deck the Halls” a song that resides in the public domain. Nobody owns it now, so you can sing it with impunity without risk of the owner demanding payment – even if you sing it on television in front of millions of people, or on the stage at New York's Radio City Music Hall in front of a sold out audience (and good for you if you get that chance).

The catch to all this is that you have to perform the song, or someone you know has to be singing. It has to be an original performance, not a previously released recording of someone else. You see, if you use a recording of your family singing the song, you should be in good shape. But if you use a recording of Old Blue Eyes singing a Christmas classic, that's something else entirely. You see, the song may be in the public domain, but the recording of the song may not be. In that case it is the performance that is copyrighted, not the song itself.

Basically, “Deck the Halls,” is in the public domain, but a recording of Frank Sinatra, or Tony Bennett singing it wouldn't be.

So go ahead and have a festive, song-filled holiday season. Enjoy yourself and the warmth of your family and friends. You can sing to your hearts content and even share the recordings you make of some of those songs. But before you post your revelry to the Internet, you might want to check to be sure the song you're singing is in the public domain, rather than one that has a valid copyright that's owned, and potentially being enforced by the owner.

Nobody wants to have a joyous, festive Christmas followed by a miserable, litigation filled New Year. Certainly, not you.