Answering Reader Questions Since 2008

• Release Me: Interview Consents and Multiple Uses
  Dear Rich: If a reporter has consent to interview someone, can that reporter also play that recording during an interview on air?  The reporter can probably play the interview on air, but the answer depends on several factors.Consent: Oral, implied, or written. A consent to interview (also known as a 'release') is a promise by […]
• Publicly Posted PowerPoint ≠ Public Domain
  Dear Rich: I run a volunteer-run/non-profit educational program for students who have failed the Naplex several times. I saw PowerPoints posted publicly on a school's website, which I thought would be useful. They are available publicly for everyone to see and download. The website does not have a notice about not being allowed to use them. I […]
• Baby (Has Finally) Come Home!
  Listen to Bessie SmithDear Rich: I'm trying to determine if a recording of a song from 1923 is in the public domain for use as background music in a film scene. The song is 'Baby Won't You Please Come Home' by Bessie Smith. It was recorded on April 11, 1923, and written by Clarence Williams. […]
• Upcycling: From Feedbag to Tote Bag
  This dress was made by Mrs. G. R. (Dorothy) Overall of Caldwell, Kansas, in 1959 for the Cotton Bag Sewing Contest Dear Rich: Would it be a violation of trademark or copyright law to take an empty livestock feed bag (with the name and/or logo of the company that produced the feed on it, along with […]
• We're Off to Sue the Wizard
  Dear Rich: I want to use a small portion of lyrics from a copyrighted song (We're Off To See The Wizard," by  E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen) in a first novel currently being written. Songview, the search service made available at the BMI website says the song is 50% controlled by the writer and 50% […]