Newfiegirl, Copyright infringement is not to be taken lightly. If your book is for your own pleasure and that of your family members, I imagine you can put out limited copies under the heading of "educational purposes." But if you have any intention whatsoever of selling your book, even for charity, or giving your book away as a large production, you would be well advised to seriously research the copyright issue. It looks like many of the songs on your list were written during the 1940s. That's just not that long ago, to simply ignore a potential copyright claim. In the US, copyright can now last a whole lot longer than 50 years after the death of the writer. Current information is available from this US government website, and from the Library of Congress. Start with: http://www.copyright.gov/ This thickly-worded paragraph pertains to older works (such as the ones you mention): Works Originally Created and Published or Registered before January 1, 1978 Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published with a copyright notice or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright endured for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The Copyright Act of 1976 extended the renewal term from 28 to 47 years for copyrights that were subsisting on January 1, 1978, or for pre-1978 copyrights restored under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), making these works eligible for a total term of protection of 75 years. Public Law 105-298, enacted on October 27, 1998, further extended the renewal term of copyrights still subsisting on that date by an additional 20 years, providing for a renewal term of 67 years and a total term of protection of 95 years. Unfortunately, the onus is on the intended publisher of the book (you) to discover whether or not the songs are still under copyright. Perhaps you'll think about a career in copyright law?? Good luck, Barbara
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