music copyright inquiry

[chrisusvi]

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (U.S. Territory)
What is the length of time before a copyrighted song can be used without violating music copyright laws. (I was told that a song can be 23 years or older that it can be used without permission from the songwriter or record company). Is this true? Is there a general rule or does it get rather complicated? Just curious.

Thanks in advance.

[divgradcurl]

Are the Virgin Islands subject to U.S. law? I would guess they are, but I can't say that I know for sure...

What is the length of time before a copyrighted song can be used without violating music copyright laws. (I was told that a song can be 23 years or older that it can be used without permission from the songwriter or record company).

Under U.S. law, unless a work is in the public domain, you need permission from the copyright holder to use the work. Anything published before Jan 1, 1923, is automatically in the public domain. Anything published between 1923 and about 1960 or so may be in the public domain, but probably not. Anything else is almost certainly NOT in the public domain.

You can check out the registration status at [url]www.copyright.gov[/url] -- however, just because a song doesn't appear there doesn't mean that it is public domain. You can also check with ASCAP/BMI and the Harry Fox Agency to see about obtaining licenses to use copyrighted works.