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[stewart cattanach]

hey!
I am a musician and i've been considering making a cd of nursery rymes. eg "the wheels on the bus" but i dont know whether they are copyrighted or not. does anyone know where i can find out this sort of thing? Id appreciate any help.
Thanks.
Stu. x

[M. Arthur Auslander]

Dear Mr.  Cattanach,
You might start with, ASCAP, SECAC or BMI to see if they control the right to the song.

[nobody]

Yeah but many people believe just because it's in one of those databases, that the song itself is under protection. Not so. In those databases, there are many *arrangements* or performances of public domain songs -- even though the songs themselves are public domain.

ASCAP, BMI, so on, will not usually offer that additional information -- not their job. Use a clearance agency like http://www.pubdomain.com

As for nursery rhymes, check http://www.pdinfo.com -- although not complete, that list is usually accurate.

Also, this site has done some specific research into nursery rhymes:
http://www.kididdles.com/mouseum/allsongs.html