Jeff1

John thanks for the link. Essentially in the U.S. any song prior to 1923 would be in the public domain according to circular 15a. Anything after that but before 1978 could potentially still be under copyright terms. In my case I am covering songs by Charley Patton who died in 1938. Supposedly these are owned by EMI. Just doesn't seem right to me.

Question: How can a publisher claim the rights to a song which is older than 75 years past the death of it's writer. According to a certain record company all songs are public domain 70 years after the first December of the death of the writer. I'm speaking of the song and not the recordings. So why is a publisher claiming rights for this song?

Thanks John, I'll contact the publisher and see what they say.

I have a question concerning song copyrighting. I'm working on a project that involves reinterpreting the works of blues singers of the early 1900's who's works are currently owned by publishers. These songs were changed through arrangement by adding or subtracting chords and melody or adding instruments. Parts of lyrics were used in these arrangements by the writer and additional lyrics were added by the current artists. My question is this. My intention is to give copyright credit to the original writer when any part of his or her song is used, but can the current artist also be credited as a writer or collaborator? If so how would this be listed in the credits?