In one of the great songs of acceptance, Woody Guthrie sings “This land was made for you and me”.
However, it turns out that the song, This Land Is Your Land, will remain solely Guthrie’s property.
Following a recent ruling in court, Woody Guthrie’s folk masterpiece This Land Is Your Land will remain private property.
Following a 2016 lawsuit by a Brooklyn band called Satorii, a recent New York Times report states that the song will not be moved into the Public Domain. You can read the full report here. Satorii, who covered the iconic folk song, stated that the track no longer belongs to the copyright owners Richmond Organisation. This is mainly due to the copyright owners receiving licensing fees from external use of the song.
Satorii argued that due to Guthrie not renewing the copyright in 1945, the song should have been turned over to public property in 1973. The case itself was thrown out of court by Judge P. Kevin Castel of Federal District Court in Manhattan because Satorii had already paid the licensing fee. This fee basically enables the band to use the song at will. It was also only a tiny amount of $45.50. Maybe the band are running short of money? who knows.
All in all, it shows that Woody Guthrie’s folk anthem will remain in private property for the meantime.
