Entertainment Law Question #8?

"If He Were My Guy" is a song written by Charles Composer. It was first published in 1935. Composer died in 1940. Prior to his death, Composer granted a synchronization license to Dynamic Studio authorizing the studio to record and use the song in the soundtrack for one of its movies and authorizing it to distribute the song "in all media and by any means, now known or hereafter invented" for the "entire duration" of the song's copyright "including all renewals and extensions thereof". Composer's widow had renewed the song's copyright in 1963, 28 years after its first publication, but she has not contacted Dynamic for any reason since doing so. Dynamic used the song in that movie, and that movie was exhibited in movie theaters and was later broadcast on TV, but it hadn't been exploited until recently since the late 1950's. This year, Dynamic released the movie again, on VHS as part of their classic series, but did not obtain permission from Composer's widow to do so. Should it have?

Nope, not a law school final. Although I am considering going to law school. :o) We'll see. This was my last semester of undergraduate and I took an Entertainment Law class, just to see if I liked law. We had an exam that we took home and used our book to answer. I've already developed all my answers and turned in my work. (I got an A in the class overall!!) But we don't get our final exam back to see if our answers were right, so I thought I'd test my luck and see if any lawyers out there could tell me what they thought so I could see if my answers were correct. Almost all the questions can go to either side, its just trying to support your choice in side. But some, like this one, I think are pretty clear cut. Thanks for answering!!!

Sounds like a Law School Final. Is it?

"Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright lasted for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. The copyright was eligible for renewal during the last (28th) year of the first term. If renewed, the copyright was extended for a second term of 28 years. If not renewed, the copyright expired at the end of the first 28-year term. The term of copyright for works published with a year date in the notice that is earlier than the actual date of publication is computed from the year date in the copyright notice."

The copyright probably expired in 1991, making it public domain. If it is in public domain, there would be no need to get permission.