Did you know that any song or musical work published in 1922 or earlier is in the public domain in the USA? However, it can be tricky to determine if a public domain song is free of all copyright protections. Even though the original written music is no longer protected by copyright, recordings and other issues may still be protected. This means that sampling music in the public domain is not allowed.

If you're planning to record your own original arrangement of an old, traditional song (originally published in or before 1922), you may be in the clear! You can find the song in this database for reference.

But if it's not an old, traditional song and you're unsure about the original songwriter, you need to do some research. Covers of copyrighted songs require information about the original songwriters and publishers. To learn more about cover songs, check out this article.

It's crucial to know the difference between public domain and copyrighted songs. Uploading covers incorrectly can result in streaming services taking down your content or even songwriters taking legal action. Let's avoid that!

Note: if you’re distributing a public domain song, make sure to select “Original song” in the "Songwriters" section when uploading.

As long as you're 100% positive, there are no other known songwriters. You can list yourself as the songwriter for your own arrangement of a public domain work or list "Traditional" as a songwriter.