Intellectual Property » Legal Hurdle Cleared In “We Shall Overcome” Copyright Case

Legal Hurdle Cleared In “We Shall Overcome” Copyright Case

November 28, 2016

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A New York federal judge rejected a bid to dismiss the lawsuit over whether the song, “We Shall Overcome” – which has served as the unofficial anthem to the Civil Rights Movement – belongs in the public domain. The lawsuit, filed by the same legal team that got Warner/Chappell to back off ownership claims over the “Happy Birthday” song, claims the lyrics in the first verse of “We Shall Overcome” were copied from material in the public domain and that there’s been a fraud on the U.S. Copyright Office. The defendants are The Richmond Organization and Ludlow Music, which have retained commercial control of the song since the early 60s. They assert that the copyrighted version is sufficiently original to merit protection. Richmond Organization and Ludlow Music also note that royalties from the song go to the Highlander Research and Education Center to support art and research projects for the African-American community, as well as the preservation of Civil Rights Movement documents.

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